Fic: Reign of Scars; 4/15 [PG-13] TW/HL/DW crossover. Fix!it Big Bang
Title: Reign of Scars
Author: aeron_lanart
Beta: idontlikegravy
Artist: idontlikegravy - Art!.
Fandom(s): Highlander/Torchwood/Doctor Who (part of the Mystery Verse, my existing AU)
Characters/pairing: Gwen/Rhys, Siannon O'Niall (OFC) and Richie Ryan, with appearances from lots of other Torchwood and Doctor Who characters (both Classic and New Who).
Rating/Warnings: PG-13/teen. The only warnings are for language and angst, as it is a post Children of Earth story in the Torchwood scheme of things and the outcome of CoE is NOT the thing that's being fixed in this fic. Miracle Day is ignored in this verse. This is the direct sequel to Shattered in Aspect and includes some dialogue from that fic as part of it takes place in the same time period.
Disclaimer: The BBC/RTD own the Torchwood/Who universe and its characters. Panzer/Davis Productions own the Highlander universe and its characters. I own the OCs.
No copyright infringement intended, no profit made. Title and quote from the song of the same name by Pro-Jekt.
Summary: The Torchwood Hub is a hole in the ground, Jack Harkness has fled with no-one any the wiser as to his whereabouts and Gwen is dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. However, while she still stands, there's a chance Torchwood could rise from the ashes of its destruction even though the road ahead is hidden in the shadows. This is the story of what happened to Torchwood in this verse during the 6 months at the end of Children of Earth, after the 456 and the destruction of The Hub, while Jack and Methos were wandering the world.
A/N:
Written for Fix-it Big Bang fixitstory. Please go here to see the lovely art.
Can also be read at AO3.
~3~
*
As if the finding of Jack's Coral had been a catalyst, things started to coalesce. Siannon felt like she was living off caffeine fumes she was so busy but the courses she managed to hack herself into attending were doing their job so being a medic for the team - if they ever managed to have a team - was no longer as empty a title as it had been when she accepted Gwen's offer as they stood together by the shattered remnants of the hub just a few weeks before. The renovation and alteration of St James' church was still in early stages so a large proportion of their current warehouse home had been given over to Myfanwy, who appeared to be fairly content with the arrangement though she paid regular night time visits to her roost on the church tower giving further credence to the rumours of animate gargoyles and ghosts, which Siannon and Gwen did their best to encourage - the more distance people kept from the old church, the better for Torchwood.
Not long after the discovery of Jack's Coral, Siannon actually found the time to visit the site of the Hub. The Plas had begun to look more like a building site than a bomb site, despite the fact that there was still rubble everywhere, which eased some of the pain she still felt whenever she looked at the broken stump of the water tower surrounded by scaffolding and the tumbled mess below it.
She was sitting near the old Pierhead building, its stoic redbrick presence at her back a contrast to the ruins before her when someone unexpectedly sat beside her. She glanced over and was about to put some distance between them when she realised that she recognised the face from Gwen's possible Torchwood personnel list. She must have recently arrived and Siannon bet Gwen had been showing her what used to be Torchwood.
"Lois Habiba?" Siannon asked, just as Lois announced
"I'm Lois Habiba."
"Did Gwen send you over?" Lois shook her head.
"I needed a break. I never realised… there's just… I didn't expect this amount of destruction. It was too much to stand any longer."
Lois sounded terribly young and innocent but Siannon did not feel that much inclined to extend any sympathy toward her; the girl was here of her own accord and if she was going to be part of their new Torchwood she was going to have to get used to death, destruction and pain.
"Then it's probably a good thing you didn't see it before UNIT tidied it up a bit," Siannon replied. "It was worse, much worse."
"I think what hurts the most is that Mr Frobisher seemed so normal but to authorise this destruction," Lois waved in the direction of the ruined water tower, "is so far outside my idea of normal that I have trouble getting my head round it."
"Welcome to our world, Lois. You stick with us and you'll find that normal is something that happens to other people but we'll fight tooth and nail for their lives to stay like that."
"That's why I'm here. What I saw - what I did - destroyed normal forever for me. I don't want other people to learn the same way and if I can do something about it, I will, even though I'm only a PA." Lois nodded fiercely to herself and Siannon understood why Gwen had offered Lois a place in Torchwood on only a few minutes acquaintance. Lois, and her determination to keep the world normal for others despite what had happened to her, was just what they needed. As for being only a PA, a good proportion of what Siannon had been doing would be done much more efficiently by someone like Lois; they needed her.
At that moment, Siannon's phone vibrated in her pocket; it was a message from Gwen -- if you're happy with Lois, take her to meet Myfanwy; she checks out -- Siannon smiled; trial by pterodactyl - or pteranodon - would be underway very soon. She slid the phone back into her pocket.
"So, Lois, you've seen where Torchwood was, are you ready to see where we are… and where we will be?" Siannon asked. Lois gave her a startling and beautiful smile.
"No time like the present!" Lois said. Siannon stood up and dusted off her jeans, Lois did the same.
"In that case, Lois Habiba, welcome to Torchwood. I'm Siannon O'Niall and we're going to be seeing a hell of a lot of each other." Lois took Siannon's outstretched hand with no hesitation and gave her a firm and formal handshake.
"I'll look forward to it," Lois answered. Siannon wasn't sure how long it would take to change that outlook of Lois' - or if it ever would change - but they were ready to take the first step on that path. She took the stairs up to ground level by the Pierhead building at a jog, her braid bouncing on her shoulders, aware of Lois only a heartbeat behind her, already a comfortable presence at her back. Time would tell if she stayed that way.
*
Lois and Myfanwy took to each other instantly, and another piece of the Torchwood puzzle slid firmly into place. It didn't take long for Siannon to wonder how they ever did without her; she had an organisational talent that was second to none. If both she and Gwen were happy that Lois made a hopeless cup of coffee, Siannon felt that was understandable, besides, they'd been drinking tea more often than not in recent weeks; the smell of a decent cup of coffee could bring tears to their eyes when they were least expecting it.
It was Lois who had the idea of building a secure underground storage area at the warehouse using the people from the church reconstruction so UNIT wouldn't know about it; Lois who was an expert at phone related diversionary tactics while being scrupulously polite and most importantly it was Lois who discovered that Agent Johnson, one of her team members and a Land Rover had gone missing - AWOL in fact - after she'd resigned her position as a paramilitary protector of the state with a forthright denouncement of those in power. With that news, they all watched their backs a lot more closely, but no new threat emerged from the darkness.
*
More often than not, especially after the arrival of Lois, Gwen left the direct supervision of clearing the Hub rubble to Beth Sullivan; the UNIT grunts were almost as terrified of her as they were of Bambera and she had the added ability of seeming to have eyes in the back of her head that could spot any potential misdemeanour, plus Gwen was getting busier with real Torchwood work as the resident weevil population - and the rift - became more active again. Occasionally though, Gwen would brave the precarious path down to what had been the heart of the Hub and was now ground zero. She was glad that there was so little that was recognisable about the place or she didn't think she would have been able to stand it. She was always granted a respectful amount of space when she did visit in person and no matter what the reason she was grateful for it. This time she had a feeling, about what, she wasn't entirely sure but a good copper never completely discounted gut feelings so she stood in place for a moment, near the wreck of what had been the lift and possibly the very spot Jack had stood when the Hub was destroyed. The glint of water caught her eyes and she realised that the tidal outflow from the base of the water tower had either been unblocked or repaired. As she took a step closer a different sort of glint captured her attention and she stepped down into the shallow water, crouching so she could ease her hand into a gap that was still clogged with rubble - and something else. She held her breath as she scrabbled through the tightly packed rubble with careful fingers, the water chilling her feet as it seeped into her boots, hopeful and terrified at the same time. Finally, her fingers found purchase on what she thought she'd spotted; it wasn't stone, in fact it didn't feel like any material that was found on earth. Slowly, she drew it out, its entrance into the light heralded by a small cascade of rubble. It lay heavy in her palm and she clasped her fingers around it, not wanting the tiny blinking blue light to attract attention. The strap was completely gone but apart from a couple of scratches the device that Jack had always worn on his wrist seemed to be undamaged, as indestructible as its owner. She straightened, carefully secreting the device into her pocket before she stepped out of the water. She no longer cared that her feet were wet - her face was in the same condition - the weight in her pocket burned through her like fire and the only thing that could be more precious would be to find her fallen colleagues standing behind her when she turned round. She might not be able to help Jack directly, but restoring the device to its former glory - within her ability to do so - was something she could do, and be glad about, even if it was something she did not want to share with Siannon. There was a spring in her step as she made her way out of the remnants of the Hub that had been missing for too long.
*
Gwen sighed, rubbing her tired and gritty eyes until she saw spots. No matter how she turned things around to look at them, there was no way her Torchwood could be run as Jack had run it; they didn't have the resources. No Hub meant no archives, no vaults, no alien incinerator and no cryo storage never mind the sheer physical lack of space. They'd been lucky in that both the Rift and the resident Weevil population had been quiet since the devastation of the Hub, Ianto's death and Jack's disappearance, though both the weevils and rift were showing signs of becoming more active again. Things weren’t back to what Gwen regarded as ‘normal’ levels of activity but she didn't kid herself that would last, not in Cardiff. Holding aliens against the time they could be released or sent home was going to be a thing of the past; Weevils at least they would generally be able to persuade back into the sewers, but the rest, the ones that were incompatible with living peacefully on earth would have to be dealt with ruthlessly; Torchwood would have to begin using a shoot to kill policy again and that hurt, another scar to add to the collection she'd amassed in the last couple of years. The door of the office creaked as it opened and she half turned as Siannon walked in, looking as tired as Gwen felt.
"Come on Gwen, call it a day," she said. "It will wait until tomorrow."
"I know. I…" Gwen let out another sigh. "I'm just sick of death, of killing." She stared blankly at the computer screen for a second, trying not to see Susie and Owen and Tosh and Ianto. There was a rustle as Siannon shifted some papers out of the way to perch on the desk in front of her, in the same way she'd done with the desk in Jack's office.
"We don't have any other option, you know that, but if it's any consolation you aren't the only one who would prefer that not to be the case."
"I just wish…"
"If wishes were fishes…"
"Siannon!" Gwen gave Siannon's knee a playful slap and leaned back in her chair.
"On the upside, I've found an incinerator that we can use - besides the one at Flat Holm. While it isn't in the city centre, it's not so far out that it can't be useful. The best thing is that it's run by someone with Torchwood connections."
"Oh? Torchwood employees often don't remember the place if they live long enough to leave voluntarily." Gwen knew she sounded bitter but how could she not? In her time with Torchwood she'd lost three dear friends, one of them twice over, to death.
"Not employees, well, not just employees."
"Now you have me intrigued." Gwen was interested in spite of herself, the spark of curiosity burning through the pain of loss. Siannon had probably counted on that.
"The current owner is locally born, but one of his parents is an immigrant - a Torchwood immigrant - though the other is a former employee. Ianto was in touch with them regularly; he found their story interesting."
"He would." Gwen surreptitiously wiped her eyes; they'd unaccountably begun to water. She wasn't crying, she wasn't, her eyes were just tired. Siannon had moved away to give her some semblance of privacy, for which she was grateful. "So," Gwen sniffed. "Just how does the child of an alien and an ex-Torchwood employee happen to have control of an incinerator powerful enough for us to use?"
"Animal crematorium; it's all above board. Having said that it has been put to use for the disposal of non-terrestrial remains previously."
"What?!"
"Our half alien friend is the equivalent of a funeral director, kind of. His parents knew there was a sizeable non-terrestrial population and that not all of them would live long under earth normal conditions. They provided a resource to ensure that other non-terrestrials had the option of being able to have their own death rites and rituals while reducing the risk of someone with alien physiology being discovered while going through 'normal' channels. Having said that, there is a regular funeral director who offers a discreet service for those who aren't entirely 'normal' - closed coffins are a speciality."
"Another ex-employee?"
"Not exactly, It's an old family firm but they had a close encounter with aliens - and Jack's Doctor - in 1869 and have provided a 'special' service ever since, advertised only by word of mouth."
"How did you discover all this?"
"I didn't, Lois did; she has a knack."
"Doesn't she just, we're lucky to have her." Gwen sniffed again, this time her eyes really were stinging through tiredness alone. "That solves our disposal problem at least but I still wish it wasn't necessary."
"What about transport? I know Rhys was looking into something."
"Oh Rhys has come up trumps, he has. We should have our brand spanking new - and discreet - van fairly soon now."
"We'll never fit in a van comfortably," Siannon said.
"Rhys thought of that, this one apparently has extra seats, tinted windows, lots of space in the back and is way less conspicuous than the SUV."
"That's a turn up for the books, isn't it? Torchwood being subtle…"
"I don't think driving round in a bloody huge black van is going to be exactly subtle, just a bit less obvious. I'll kind of miss the SUV though."
"I know what you mean; I doubt the police will though."
"Oh I don't know, Andy used to say it was quite a useful indicator of trouble it being so obvious and all. I wonder what he'll think of the van."
"I'm sure we'll find out eventually. Another day. Right now we really should be going."
"OK, OK. Look, I'm getting ready." Gwen made an obvious job of shutting down her computer and grabbing her stuff but didn't miss Siannon's chuckle as she left the office; usually it was her doing the mother-henning, not Siannon.
*
Chapter Four
Author: aeron_lanart
Beta: idontlikegravy
Artist: idontlikegravy - Art!.
Fandom(s): Highlander/Torchwood/Doctor Who (part of the Mystery Verse, my existing AU)
Characters/pairing: Gwen/Rhys, Siannon O'Niall (OFC) and Richie Ryan, with appearances from lots of other Torchwood and Doctor Who characters (both Classic and New Who).
Rating/Warnings: PG-13/teen. The only warnings are for language and angst, as it is a post Children of Earth story in the Torchwood scheme of things and the outcome of CoE is NOT the thing that's being fixed in this fic. Miracle Day is ignored in this verse. This is the direct sequel to Shattered in Aspect and includes some dialogue from that fic as part of it takes place in the same time period.
Disclaimer: The BBC/RTD own the Torchwood/Who universe and its characters. Panzer/Davis Productions own the Highlander universe and its characters. I own the OCs.
No copyright infringement intended, no profit made. Title and quote from the song of the same name by Pro-Jekt.
Summary: The Torchwood Hub is a hole in the ground, Jack Harkness has fled with no-one any the wiser as to his whereabouts and Gwen is dealing with an unplanned pregnancy. However, while she still stands, there's a chance Torchwood could rise from the ashes of its destruction even though the road ahead is hidden in the shadows. This is the story of what happened to Torchwood in this verse during the 6 months at the end of Children of Earth, after the 456 and the destruction of The Hub, while Jack and Methos were wandering the world.
A/N:
Written for Fix-it Big Bang fixitstory. Please go here to see the lovely art.
Can also be read at AO3.
~3~
*
As if the finding of Jack's Coral had been a catalyst, things started to coalesce. Siannon felt like she was living off caffeine fumes she was so busy but the courses she managed to hack herself into attending were doing their job so being a medic for the team - if they ever managed to have a team - was no longer as empty a title as it had been when she accepted Gwen's offer as they stood together by the shattered remnants of the hub just a few weeks before. The renovation and alteration of St James' church was still in early stages so a large proportion of their current warehouse home had been given over to Myfanwy, who appeared to be fairly content with the arrangement though she paid regular night time visits to her roost on the church tower giving further credence to the rumours of animate gargoyles and ghosts, which Siannon and Gwen did their best to encourage - the more distance people kept from the old church, the better for Torchwood.
Not long after the discovery of Jack's Coral, Siannon actually found the time to visit the site of the Hub. The Plas had begun to look more like a building site than a bomb site, despite the fact that there was still rubble everywhere, which eased some of the pain she still felt whenever she looked at the broken stump of the water tower surrounded by scaffolding and the tumbled mess below it.
She was sitting near the old Pierhead building, its stoic redbrick presence at her back a contrast to the ruins before her when someone unexpectedly sat beside her. She glanced over and was about to put some distance between them when she realised that she recognised the face from Gwen's possible Torchwood personnel list. She must have recently arrived and Siannon bet Gwen had been showing her what used to be Torchwood.
"Lois Habiba?" Siannon asked, just as Lois announced
"I'm Lois Habiba."
"Did Gwen send you over?" Lois shook her head.
"I needed a break. I never realised… there's just… I didn't expect this amount of destruction. It was too much to stand any longer."
Lois sounded terribly young and innocent but Siannon did not feel that much inclined to extend any sympathy toward her; the girl was here of her own accord and if she was going to be part of their new Torchwood she was going to have to get used to death, destruction and pain.
"Then it's probably a good thing you didn't see it before UNIT tidied it up a bit," Siannon replied. "It was worse, much worse."
"I think what hurts the most is that Mr Frobisher seemed so normal but to authorise this destruction," Lois waved in the direction of the ruined water tower, "is so far outside my idea of normal that I have trouble getting my head round it."
"Welcome to our world, Lois. You stick with us and you'll find that normal is something that happens to other people but we'll fight tooth and nail for their lives to stay like that."
"That's why I'm here. What I saw - what I did - destroyed normal forever for me. I don't want other people to learn the same way and if I can do something about it, I will, even though I'm only a PA." Lois nodded fiercely to herself and Siannon understood why Gwen had offered Lois a place in Torchwood on only a few minutes acquaintance. Lois, and her determination to keep the world normal for others despite what had happened to her, was just what they needed. As for being only a PA, a good proportion of what Siannon had been doing would be done much more efficiently by someone like Lois; they needed her.
At that moment, Siannon's phone vibrated in her pocket; it was a message from Gwen -- if you're happy with Lois, take her to meet Myfanwy; she checks out -- Siannon smiled; trial by pterodactyl - or pteranodon - would be underway very soon. She slid the phone back into her pocket.
"So, Lois, you've seen where Torchwood was, are you ready to see where we are… and where we will be?" Siannon asked. Lois gave her a startling and beautiful smile.
"No time like the present!" Lois said. Siannon stood up and dusted off her jeans, Lois did the same.
"In that case, Lois Habiba, welcome to Torchwood. I'm Siannon O'Niall and we're going to be seeing a hell of a lot of each other." Lois took Siannon's outstretched hand with no hesitation and gave her a firm and formal handshake.
"I'll look forward to it," Lois answered. Siannon wasn't sure how long it would take to change that outlook of Lois' - or if it ever would change - but they were ready to take the first step on that path. She took the stairs up to ground level by the Pierhead building at a jog, her braid bouncing on her shoulders, aware of Lois only a heartbeat behind her, already a comfortable presence at her back. Time would tell if she stayed that way.
*
Lois and Myfanwy took to each other instantly, and another piece of the Torchwood puzzle slid firmly into place. It didn't take long for Siannon to wonder how they ever did without her; she had an organisational talent that was second to none. If both she and Gwen were happy that Lois made a hopeless cup of coffee, Siannon felt that was understandable, besides, they'd been drinking tea more often than not in recent weeks; the smell of a decent cup of coffee could bring tears to their eyes when they were least expecting it.
It was Lois who had the idea of building a secure underground storage area at the warehouse using the people from the church reconstruction so UNIT wouldn't know about it; Lois who was an expert at phone related diversionary tactics while being scrupulously polite and most importantly it was Lois who discovered that Agent Johnson, one of her team members and a Land Rover had gone missing - AWOL in fact - after she'd resigned her position as a paramilitary protector of the state with a forthright denouncement of those in power. With that news, they all watched their backs a lot more closely, but no new threat emerged from the darkness.
*
More often than not, especially after the arrival of Lois, Gwen left the direct supervision of clearing the Hub rubble to Beth Sullivan; the UNIT grunts were almost as terrified of her as they were of Bambera and she had the added ability of seeming to have eyes in the back of her head that could spot any potential misdemeanour, plus Gwen was getting busier with real Torchwood work as the resident weevil population - and the rift - became more active again. Occasionally though, Gwen would brave the precarious path down to what had been the heart of the Hub and was now ground zero. She was glad that there was so little that was recognisable about the place or she didn't think she would have been able to stand it. She was always granted a respectful amount of space when she did visit in person and no matter what the reason she was grateful for it. This time she had a feeling, about what, she wasn't entirely sure but a good copper never completely discounted gut feelings so she stood in place for a moment, near the wreck of what had been the lift and possibly the very spot Jack had stood when the Hub was destroyed. The glint of water caught her eyes and she realised that the tidal outflow from the base of the water tower had either been unblocked or repaired. As she took a step closer a different sort of glint captured her attention and she stepped down into the shallow water, crouching so she could ease her hand into a gap that was still clogged with rubble - and something else. She held her breath as she scrabbled through the tightly packed rubble with careful fingers, the water chilling her feet as it seeped into her boots, hopeful and terrified at the same time. Finally, her fingers found purchase on what she thought she'd spotted; it wasn't stone, in fact it didn't feel like any material that was found on earth. Slowly, she drew it out, its entrance into the light heralded by a small cascade of rubble. It lay heavy in her palm and she clasped her fingers around it, not wanting the tiny blinking blue light to attract attention. The strap was completely gone but apart from a couple of scratches the device that Jack had always worn on his wrist seemed to be undamaged, as indestructible as its owner. She straightened, carefully secreting the device into her pocket before she stepped out of the water. She no longer cared that her feet were wet - her face was in the same condition - the weight in her pocket burned through her like fire and the only thing that could be more precious would be to find her fallen colleagues standing behind her when she turned round. She might not be able to help Jack directly, but restoring the device to its former glory - within her ability to do so - was something she could do, and be glad about, even if it was something she did not want to share with Siannon. There was a spring in her step as she made her way out of the remnants of the Hub that had been missing for too long.
*
Gwen sighed, rubbing her tired and gritty eyes until she saw spots. No matter how she turned things around to look at them, there was no way her Torchwood could be run as Jack had run it; they didn't have the resources. No Hub meant no archives, no vaults, no alien incinerator and no cryo storage never mind the sheer physical lack of space. They'd been lucky in that both the Rift and the resident Weevil population had been quiet since the devastation of the Hub, Ianto's death and Jack's disappearance, though both the weevils and rift were showing signs of becoming more active again. Things weren’t back to what Gwen regarded as ‘normal’ levels of activity but she didn't kid herself that would last, not in Cardiff. Holding aliens against the time they could be released or sent home was going to be a thing of the past; Weevils at least they would generally be able to persuade back into the sewers, but the rest, the ones that were incompatible with living peacefully on earth would have to be dealt with ruthlessly; Torchwood would have to begin using a shoot to kill policy again and that hurt, another scar to add to the collection she'd amassed in the last couple of years. The door of the office creaked as it opened and she half turned as Siannon walked in, looking as tired as Gwen felt.
"Come on Gwen, call it a day," she said. "It will wait until tomorrow."
"I know. I…" Gwen let out another sigh. "I'm just sick of death, of killing." She stared blankly at the computer screen for a second, trying not to see Susie and Owen and Tosh and Ianto. There was a rustle as Siannon shifted some papers out of the way to perch on the desk in front of her, in the same way she'd done with the desk in Jack's office.
"We don't have any other option, you know that, but if it's any consolation you aren't the only one who would prefer that not to be the case."
"I just wish…"
"If wishes were fishes…"
"Siannon!" Gwen gave Siannon's knee a playful slap and leaned back in her chair.
"On the upside, I've found an incinerator that we can use - besides the one at Flat Holm. While it isn't in the city centre, it's not so far out that it can't be useful. The best thing is that it's run by someone with Torchwood connections."
"Oh? Torchwood employees often don't remember the place if they live long enough to leave voluntarily." Gwen knew she sounded bitter but how could she not? In her time with Torchwood she'd lost three dear friends, one of them twice over, to death.
"Not employees, well, not just employees."
"Now you have me intrigued." Gwen was interested in spite of herself, the spark of curiosity burning through the pain of loss. Siannon had probably counted on that.
"The current owner is locally born, but one of his parents is an immigrant - a Torchwood immigrant - though the other is a former employee. Ianto was in touch with them regularly; he found their story interesting."
"He would." Gwen surreptitiously wiped her eyes; they'd unaccountably begun to water. She wasn't crying, she wasn't, her eyes were just tired. Siannon had moved away to give her some semblance of privacy, for which she was grateful. "So," Gwen sniffed. "Just how does the child of an alien and an ex-Torchwood employee happen to have control of an incinerator powerful enough for us to use?"
"Animal crematorium; it's all above board. Having said that it has been put to use for the disposal of non-terrestrial remains previously."
"What?!"
"Our half alien friend is the equivalent of a funeral director, kind of. His parents knew there was a sizeable non-terrestrial population and that not all of them would live long under earth normal conditions. They provided a resource to ensure that other non-terrestrials had the option of being able to have their own death rites and rituals while reducing the risk of someone with alien physiology being discovered while going through 'normal' channels. Having said that, there is a regular funeral director who offers a discreet service for those who aren't entirely 'normal' - closed coffins are a speciality."
"Another ex-employee?"
"Not exactly, It's an old family firm but they had a close encounter with aliens - and Jack's Doctor - in 1869 and have provided a 'special' service ever since, advertised only by word of mouth."
"How did you discover all this?"
"I didn't, Lois did; she has a knack."
"Doesn't she just, we're lucky to have her." Gwen sniffed again, this time her eyes really were stinging through tiredness alone. "That solves our disposal problem at least but I still wish it wasn't necessary."
"What about transport? I know Rhys was looking into something."
"Oh Rhys has come up trumps, he has. We should have our brand spanking new - and discreet - van fairly soon now."
"We'll never fit in a van comfortably," Siannon said.
"Rhys thought of that, this one apparently has extra seats, tinted windows, lots of space in the back and is way less conspicuous than the SUV."
"That's a turn up for the books, isn't it? Torchwood being subtle…"
"I don't think driving round in a bloody huge black van is going to be exactly subtle, just a bit less obvious. I'll kind of miss the SUV though."
"I know what you mean; I doubt the police will though."
"Oh I don't know, Andy used to say it was quite a useful indicator of trouble it being so obvious and all. I wonder what he'll think of the van."
"I'm sure we'll find out eventually. Another day. Right now we really should be going."
"OK, OK. Look, I'm getting ready." Gwen made an obvious job of shutting down her computer and grabbing her stuff but didn't miss Siannon's chuckle as she left the office; usually it was her doing the mother-henning, not Siannon.
*
Chapter Four