Fic: Reign of Scars; 13/15 [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.
~ 12 ~
*
With the crater of Torchwood-that-was filled in, Siannon knew it would be only a matter of time before UNIT pulled out and finally left them to their own devices. She found she was somewhat conflicted about the prospect, alternately looking forward to it and dreading it. She knew Gwen felt the same. It would be a vulnerable time for their new team, when they would either fly high or plummet into oblivion. Siannon's bets were on flying, even if she was wary of being too optimistic at times. She would also miss Ancelyn, Bambera, Ross and Beth, as would Gwen, even if they still didn't trust any of the UNIT personnel who hadn't been personally vetted by Bambera.
One advantage of the major part of the Torchwood recovery and consolidation being complete was that the numbers of 'normal' UNIT personnel had been reduced. As the commanding officer responsible for the operation, Bambera remained, which meant her immediate team did too. Siannon knew they wouldn't be there much longer, the city of Cardiff wanted all reminders of the destruction, and for that matter the existence of Torchwood, removed, which meant that UNIT would only be there until the water tower was reconstructed on the Plas. The tourist office entrance would remain closed, the secret door forever sealed, but it seemed the old team hadn't been completely forgotten as on the wire barrier that had been placed over the 'front' door a solitary card forlornly hung in splendid isolation, a thank you for their custom from their favourite coffee shop.
That the bones of the Hub still existed below their feet was something that certain people in Cardiff might suspect, the presence of Torchwood hadn't always been the best kept secret after all, but only Siannon and Gwen knew for certain how extensive the tunnels had been, and that was the way they were going to keep it, for the present, even after they'd moved into their new home at St James' just a couple of miles away. What happened in the future was something else entirely but they hadn't set any sort of time limit.
What Siannon hadn't told Gwen - or any of the others for that matter - was that besides the purchase of St James', she'd taken other steps towards potentially securing Torchwood's future, steps which might also be a significant factor in being able to gain access to the currently inaccessible archives. The old Cardiff Bay railway station building had been abandoned for a while, though its fabric was sound, and was being sold with the suggestion that it could be used for some sort of social or leisure use. What Siannon hoped, but hadn't discussed with Gwen, was that the Torchwood underground railway had run in the direction of the Cardiff Bay station and that if it had, they would be able to access the Torchwood tunnels, and therefore the archives, from it. Nothing was certain, however. In the meantime she thought she rather liked the idea of owning a bar; she wouldn't be the first immortal to do so, or the last, but despite her hopes for the future it was a project that would have to wait until Torchwood had moved into its new home, and was settled.
*
Gwen heaved herself out of her car and rubbed her aching back as she walked - she wasn't quite at the waddling stage yet - towards the front door. It was getting more and more difficult to force herself to come in to work, even if she was only in the office, especially after an appointment that consisted of what felt like her and the baby being poked and prodded to within an inch of their lives. She was well aware that Siannon knew this and was probably watching her like a hawk for signs that indicated she could physically or mentally no longer cope with work. Sooner rather than later one of them would decide that Gwen needed to go on official mat leave and the way she was feeling that day, Gwen rather thought that might be her, though she doubted Siannon would utter a single word in protest.
There was no-one in the office when she entered, though there did seem to be some commotion that involved laughter from the main area, along with some very interested sounded squawking from Myfanwy's perch. Somewhat dubiously, she headed towards the door and as she opened it to walk through, almost ran into Johnson on the other side. Johnson was standing at some distance from the others, which caused a pang of regret to run through Gwen - too often she seemed to hold herself aloof - until she realised that Johnson was smiling just as widely as any of the others, including Ancelyn, who along with Siannon was the focus of the laughing group.
"OK, just what have you lot been up to while I wasn't here to keep an eye on you?" Gwen asked Johnson, with a smile of her own.
"It seems that Ancelyn was bored, so Siannon offered to take him off Bambera's hands and 'keep him entertained' for a while. It all got rather Princess Bride after a bit. Very illuminating, and an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours."
"Pri… You're a Princess Bride fan? YOU? The… that's…" Gwen was lost for words and resorted to vaguely waving a hand in Johnson's direction.
Johnson turned to her and grinned. "Inconceivable?" She offered.
"Oh God," Gwen choked out, and dissolved helplessly into giggles.
"I shall of course deny it vehemently if you so much as breathe a word to any of the others," Johnson said. "Though Siannon being Siannon, she probably already knows."
"Mmnngh," agreed Gwen, she was still finding words a problem and took a deep breath to get herself under control as she hung onto the door frame.
"Seriously, though, they are both scarily good. It brought it home to me that when Siannon says she's being easy on me, she's telling the absolute truth. I knew I had a lot to learn, but…" Johnson shrugged eloquently.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Johnson. Ancelyn was probably holding a sword before he could walk properly and Siannon has been doing sword work for a lot longer than you might think. Same goes for Richie." Gwen had to bite her tongue to stop herself from inadvertently saying more than she should; revealing Siannon's - and Richie's - immortality could be no-one else's decision except Siannon and Richie's, no matter what Gwen thought they should do.
"They're friends, it figures. Maybe I should ask him for some tips, at least I might end up with bruises in different places, not that I think he'll be any easier on me than she is." Johnson then turned back toward the room and looked like she was going to join the others, until she turned round with a sharp-eyed glance and caught Gwen surreptitiously rubbing her back. She frowned at Gwen.
"Maybe I'll just go and sit down," Gwen said. She didn't think she could stand it if Johnson started fussing around her.
"You do that. I might even be nice for a change and bring you a cup of tea. I don't think that lot," Johnson waved in the direction of the others, "would notice, or indeed have realised you're back."
They both disappeared back through the door. Gwen collapsed gratefully into her chair, the one that seemed to blissfully conform to her curves and support every aching bone and muscle while Johnson headed off to make tea. If making tea was going to be the extent of Johnson's fussing, Gwen decided that she could probably cope with it, as she certainly didn't think it would be something that happened very often.
*
Siannon sighed as she scrubbed the muck out of her hair. Another day, another weevil. She was just glad that most of them were able to be persuaded to retreat back to their sewer home, even if they weren't exactly content about the retreating. She was lucky that the one with which she'd been dealing had decided to just throw something unmentionable at her, rather than trying to eat her, before following its companion back below the streets.
Johnson, all credit to her, had kept a completely straight face through the entire proceedings, something that Siannon knew she would have been hard pressed to manage if their positions had been reversed, and had ordered Siannon home with the proviso that she was not to come back until she was decontaminated… effectively. Siannon hadn't missed the inaudible laugh in Johnson's eyes as she'd said it, either.
As she blinked water out of her eyes she decided she was as effectively decontaminated as she was going to get, even down to Johnson's stringent standards, and it was time to be getting back to base. For all Siannon found herself still wary of her at times, and she knew she probably would be until they were settled properly into St James' with Gwen at the helm, she'd found herself liking Johnson more with each passing day. Siannon could think of no-one better to have at her side in a situation where clear headed ruthlessness was called for and she knew Gwen felt the same. Johnson also had a wicked, if rather dry and deadpan, sense of humour that tended to surface in blink and you'll miss it instances, much like her comment about decontamination. She also hadn't missed Johnson's subtle care and concern of Gwen, from the appearance of random cups of tea to keeping the others in line when Gwen was in the office and they were feeling frustrated with inactivity and had acknowledged them without fanfare, the way she knew Johnson would prefer.
She grinned at herself in the mirror as she braided her damp hair in preparation for getting back to work, and realised that a lot of the lines of tension that had shadowed her face had all but dissipated. Her green eyes shone back at her with optimism, not with sadness.
They were a team in truth and not just in name, even if they were still more of a rough diamond than a cut and polished gem. Ianto would have been proud of them. Hell, she was proud of them and she knew Gwen was too, and rightly so, when she wasn't being a worry-wort. Siannon, as usual, didn't allow herself to wonder what Jack would have thought.
*
A few days later Gwen was trying not to get annoyed with herself when her brain just would not settle to dealing with the task in hand (which, she had to admit, wasn't very interesting at the best of times as admin wasn't her forte) and she kept on getting distracted by the baby moving, thinking about what would happen when the baby was born and she had to fit in work around this new and tiny person in her life and being thankful that Rhys was going to be a great dad. Woolgathering, her mother would have called it. It slowly dawned on her that she actually didn’t have any good reasons left for not going maternity leave. The team were still a bit rough round the edges, but they were just that - a team - and she had a sobering thought that she might possibly have been holding them back by not completely trusting to both Siannon and Johnson's professional judgement because she knew what some of Siannon's personal feelings, so like her own, were. The thought was a brief one as Gwen was perfectly aware just how hard both Siannon and herself had worked at not judging Johnson from her past actions, she just had to clamp down on the tendency to worry about absolutely everything that she'd developed in the last week or so.
She sighed, and leaned back in her chair, trying to find a comfortable position. All the team were out on a mission and though she felt somewhat out of the loop, she found that beyond her base level of worrying, she didn't really care that she was out of the loop; she knew they could deal with whatever it was. This Brave New Torchwood might be as much her child as the baby inside her, but at least this child had another mother who would nurture, protect and fight for it in ways that Gwen could not.
It was probably as good a time as any to take a step away from Torchwood.
Decision made, Gwen closed her eyes and smiled; the baby kicked once, then settled.
"Happy now, baby? I know your dad will be. And you know what? I think I am too."
If she was honest with herself, all she felt was relief. She'd been worrying about her need to leave the team to fend for itself for what seemed like forever but now she'd decided to do just that, it was a weight off her mind and she could focus for a while on what was probably the most important job of her life; being a mother.
*
The place was quiet when the team returned; too quiet in Siannon's opinion. She stuck her head round the office door to check on Gwen, only to find her boss asleep in her chair with a smile on her face. Obviously Gwen had made some sort of peace with herself. Siannon backed out, careful not to make a sound; there would be time enough to speak to Gwen later, after she'd informed the team that Gwen would imminently be going on maternity leave.
*
Gwen stretched as she woke from what had been a surprisingly restful nap aware of a soft voice humming what sounded like a lullaby. She opened her eyes to find Siannon perched on the desk in front of her, a gentle smile on her face as her green eyes stared off into the distance. Their focus soon changed as Gwen wriggled slightly.
"I didn't really want to disturb you, but I thought you'd best wake up before you ended up aching all over. Even the most comfortable chair isn't after a while," Siannon said.
"You got that right," Gwen replied with a slight groan as she shifted.
"Plus, I thought that you might want to formally let the team know you were going to start your mat leave and you can't do that if you're asleep; though it works great as an informal method."
"I suppose it does at that. Still; it's time. It just took me until today to realise it. Now give me hand to get up, will you? I think I'm stuck…"
Siannon obliged with a grave chivalry that rivalled Ancelyn's, but they were both giggling by the time they left the office. It felt good to laugh, even if it did wake up the baby.
Gwen linked Siannon's arm as they headed towards the others. Siannon grinned at her.
"So, this is it, Gwen. How do you feel; about us, about leaving?"
"Proud and relieved. When we stood there on the Plas all those months ago I never thought we'd be able to keep Torchwood alive, never mind anything else, yet here we are."
"Amazing what a bit of Welsh determination and a few Irish dreams can accomplish."
"Isn't it just," Gwen said with a smile. She rubbed the swell of her belly. "This is the most amazing thing, though."
"Rhys would heartily agree with you on that and you won't get any arguments from me either. In fact, I think they'll all agree." Siannon nodded towards the gathered team who were all smiles, including Johnson.
"You know, I think they might. I'd best tell 'em then, hadn't I?" Gwen grinned.
This was it; the next step in her life was an inescapable reality and she was finally ready - and glad - to take it.
Chapter Thirteen
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.
~ 12 ~
*
With the crater of Torchwood-that-was filled in, Siannon knew it would be only a matter of time before UNIT pulled out and finally left them to their own devices. She found she was somewhat conflicted about the prospect, alternately looking forward to it and dreading it. She knew Gwen felt the same. It would be a vulnerable time for their new team, when they would either fly high or plummet into oblivion. Siannon's bets were on flying, even if she was wary of being too optimistic at times. She would also miss Ancelyn, Bambera, Ross and Beth, as would Gwen, even if they still didn't trust any of the UNIT personnel who hadn't been personally vetted by Bambera.
One advantage of the major part of the Torchwood recovery and consolidation being complete was that the numbers of 'normal' UNIT personnel had been reduced. As the commanding officer responsible for the operation, Bambera remained, which meant her immediate team did too. Siannon knew they wouldn't be there much longer, the city of Cardiff wanted all reminders of the destruction, and for that matter the existence of Torchwood, removed, which meant that UNIT would only be there until the water tower was reconstructed on the Plas. The tourist office entrance would remain closed, the secret door forever sealed, but it seemed the old team hadn't been completely forgotten as on the wire barrier that had been placed over the 'front' door a solitary card forlornly hung in splendid isolation, a thank you for their custom from their favourite coffee shop.
That the bones of the Hub still existed below their feet was something that certain people in Cardiff might suspect, the presence of Torchwood hadn't always been the best kept secret after all, but only Siannon and Gwen knew for certain how extensive the tunnels had been, and that was the way they were going to keep it, for the present, even after they'd moved into their new home at St James' just a couple of miles away. What happened in the future was something else entirely but they hadn't set any sort of time limit.
What Siannon hadn't told Gwen - or any of the others for that matter - was that besides the purchase of St James', she'd taken other steps towards potentially securing Torchwood's future, steps which might also be a significant factor in being able to gain access to the currently inaccessible archives. The old Cardiff Bay railway station building had been abandoned for a while, though its fabric was sound, and was being sold with the suggestion that it could be used for some sort of social or leisure use. What Siannon hoped, but hadn't discussed with Gwen, was that the Torchwood underground railway had run in the direction of the Cardiff Bay station and that if it had, they would be able to access the Torchwood tunnels, and therefore the archives, from it. Nothing was certain, however. In the meantime she thought she rather liked the idea of owning a bar; she wouldn't be the first immortal to do so, or the last, but despite her hopes for the future it was a project that would have to wait until Torchwood had moved into its new home, and was settled.
*
Gwen heaved herself out of her car and rubbed her aching back as she walked - she wasn't quite at the waddling stage yet - towards the front door. It was getting more and more difficult to force herself to come in to work, even if she was only in the office, especially after an appointment that consisted of what felt like her and the baby being poked and prodded to within an inch of their lives. She was well aware that Siannon knew this and was probably watching her like a hawk for signs that indicated she could physically or mentally no longer cope with work. Sooner rather than later one of them would decide that Gwen needed to go on official mat leave and the way she was feeling that day, Gwen rather thought that might be her, though she doubted Siannon would utter a single word in protest.
There was no-one in the office when she entered, though there did seem to be some commotion that involved laughter from the main area, along with some very interested sounded squawking from Myfanwy's perch. Somewhat dubiously, she headed towards the door and as she opened it to walk through, almost ran into Johnson on the other side. Johnson was standing at some distance from the others, which caused a pang of regret to run through Gwen - too often she seemed to hold herself aloof - until she realised that Johnson was smiling just as widely as any of the others, including Ancelyn, who along with Siannon was the focus of the laughing group.
"OK, just what have you lot been up to while I wasn't here to keep an eye on you?" Gwen asked Johnson, with a smile of her own.
"It seems that Ancelyn was bored, so Siannon offered to take him off Bambera's hands and 'keep him entertained' for a while. It all got rather Princess Bride after a bit. Very illuminating, and an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours."
"Pri… You're a Princess Bride fan? YOU? The… that's…" Gwen was lost for words and resorted to vaguely waving a hand in Johnson's direction.
Johnson turned to her and grinned. "Inconceivable?" She offered.
"Oh God," Gwen choked out, and dissolved helplessly into giggles.
"I shall of course deny it vehemently if you so much as breathe a word to any of the others," Johnson said. "Though Siannon being Siannon, she probably already knows."
"Mmnngh," agreed Gwen, she was still finding words a problem and took a deep breath to get herself under control as she hung onto the door frame.
"Seriously, though, they are both scarily good. It brought it home to me that when Siannon says she's being easy on me, she's telling the absolute truth. I knew I had a lot to learn, but…" Johnson shrugged eloquently.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Johnson. Ancelyn was probably holding a sword before he could walk properly and Siannon has been doing sword work for a lot longer than you might think. Same goes for Richie." Gwen had to bite her tongue to stop herself from inadvertently saying more than she should; revealing Siannon's - and Richie's - immortality could be no-one else's decision except Siannon and Richie's, no matter what Gwen thought they should do.
"They're friends, it figures. Maybe I should ask him for some tips, at least I might end up with bruises in different places, not that I think he'll be any easier on me than she is." Johnson then turned back toward the room and looked like she was going to join the others, until she turned round with a sharp-eyed glance and caught Gwen surreptitiously rubbing her back. She frowned at Gwen.
"Maybe I'll just go and sit down," Gwen said. She didn't think she could stand it if Johnson started fussing around her.
"You do that. I might even be nice for a change and bring you a cup of tea. I don't think that lot," Johnson waved in the direction of the others, "would notice, or indeed have realised you're back."
They both disappeared back through the door. Gwen collapsed gratefully into her chair, the one that seemed to blissfully conform to her curves and support every aching bone and muscle while Johnson headed off to make tea. If making tea was going to be the extent of Johnson's fussing, Gwen decided that she could probably cope with it, as she certainly didn't think it would be something that happened very often.
*
Siannon sighed as she scrubbed the muck out of her hair. Another day, another weevil. She was just glad that most of them were able to be persuaded to retreat back to their sewer home, even if they weren't exactly content about the retreating. She was lucky that the one with which she'd been dealing had decided to just throw something unmentionable at her, rather than trying to eat her, before following its companion back below the streets.
Johnson, all credit to her, had kept a completely straight face through the entire proceedings, something that Siannon knew she would have been hard pressed to manage if their positions had been reversed, and had ordered Siannon home with the proviso that she was not to come back until she was decontaminated… effectively. Siannon hadn't missed the inaudible laugh in Johnson's eyes as she'd said it, either.
As she blinked water out of her eyes she decided she was as effectively decontaminated as she was going to get, even down to Johnson's stringent standards, and it was time to be getting back to base. For all Siannon found herself still wary of her at times, and she knew she probably would be until they were settled properly into St James' with Gwen at the helm, she'd found herself liking Johnson more with each passing day. Siannon could think of no-one better to have at her side in a situation where clear headed ruthlessness was called for and she knew Gwen felt the same. Johnson also had a wicked, if rather dry and deadpan, sense of humour that tended to surface in blink and you'll miss it instances, much like her comment about decontamination. She also hadn't missed Johnson's subtle care and concern of Gwen, from the appearance of random cups of tea to keeping the others in line when Gwen was in the office and they were feeling frustrated with inactivity and had acknowledged them without fanfare, the way she knew Johnson would prefer.
She grinned at herself in the mirror as she braided her damp hair in preparation for getting back to work, and realised that a lot of the lines of tension that had shadowed her face had all but dissipated. Her green eyes shone back at her with optimism, not with sadness.
They were a team in truth and not just in name, even if they were still more of a rough diamond than a cut and polished gem. Ianto would have been proud of them. Hell, she was proud of them and she knew Gwen was too, and rightly so, when she wasn't being a worry-wort. Siannon, as usual, didn't allow herself to wonder what Jack would have thought.
*
A few days later Gwen was trying not to get annoyed with herself when her brain just would not settle to dealing with the task in hand (which, she had to admit, wasn't very interesting at the best of times as admin wasn't her forte) and she kept on getting distracted by the baby moving, thinking about what would happen when the baby was born and she had to fit in work around this new and tiny person in her life and being thankful that Rhys was going to be a great dad. Woolgathering, her mother would have called it. It slowly dawned on her that she actually didn’t have any good reasons left for not going maternity leave. The team were still a bit rough round the edges, but they were just that - a team - and she had a sobering thought that she might possibly have been holding them back by not completely trusting to both Siannon and Johnson's professional judgement because she knew what some of Siannon's personal feelings, so like her own, were. The thought was a brief one as Gwen was perfectly aware just how hard both Siannon and herself had worked at not judging Johnson from her past actions, she just had to clamp down on the tendency to worry about absolutely everything that she'd developed in the last week or so.
She sighed, and leaned back in her chair, trying to find a comfortable position. All the team were out on a mission and though she felt somewhat out of the loop, she found that beyond her base level of worrying, she didn't really care that she was out of the loop; she knew they could deal with whatever it was. This Brave New Torchwood might be as much her child as the baby inside her, but at least this child had another mother who would nurture, protect and fight for it in ways that Gwen could not.
It was probably as good a time as any to take a step away from Torchwood.
Decision made, Gwen closed her eyes and smiled; the baby kicked once, then settled.
"Happy now, baby? I know your dad will be. And you know what? I think I am too."
If she was honest with herself, all she felt was relief. She'd been worrying about her need to leave the team to fend for itself for what seemed like forever but now she'd decided to do just that, it was a weight off her mind and she could focus for a while on what was probably the most important job of her life; being a mother.
*
The place was quiet when the team returned; too quiet in Siannon's opinion. She stuck her head round the office door to check on Gwen, only to find her boss asleep in her chair with a smile on her face. Obviously Gwen had made some sort of peace with herself. Siannon backed out, careful not to make a sound; there would be time enough to speak to Gwen later, after she'd informed the team that Gwen would imminently be going on maternity leave.
*
Gwen stretched as she woke from what had been a surprisingly restful nap aware of a soft voice humming what sounded like a lullaby. She opened her eyes to find Siannon perched on the desk in front of her, a gentle smile on her face as her green eyes stared off into the distance. Their focus soon changed as Gwen wriggled slightly.
"I didn't really want to disturb you, but I thought you'd best wake up before you ended up aching all over. Even the most comfortable chair isn't after a while," Siannon said.
"You got that right," Gwen replied with a slight groan as she shifted.
"Plus, I thought that you might want to formally let the team know you were going to start your mat leave and you can't do that if you're asleep; though it works great as an informal method."
"I suppose it does at that. Still; it's time. It just took me until today to realise it. Now give me hand to get up, will you? I think I'm stuck…"
Siannon obliged with a grave chivalry that rivalled Ancelyn's, but they were both giggling by the time they left the office. It felt good to laugh, even if it did wake up the baby.
Gwen linked Siannon's arm as they headed towards the others. Siannon grinned at her.
"So, this is it, Gwen. How do you feel; about us, about leaving?"
"Proud and relieved. When we stood there on the Plas all those months ago I never thought we'd be able to keep Torchwood alive, never mind anything else, yet here we are."
"Amazing what a bit of Welsh determination and a few Irish dreams can accomplish."
"Isn't it just," Gwen said with a smile. She rubbed the swell of her belly. "This is the most amazing thing, though."
"Rhys would heartily agree with you on that and you won't get any arguments from me either. In fact, I think they'll all agree." Siannon nodded towards the gathered team who were all smiles, including Johnson.
"You know, I think they might. I'd best tell 'em then, hadn't I?" Gwen grinned.
This was it; the next step in her life was an inescapable reality and she was finally ready - and glad - to take it.
Chapter Thirteen