So why'd you come home to this faithless town...?

[thatsortofaman]

Sam and Tosh are both in Sam's room. The door is open in case someone needs either of them (mostly Sam), which somewhat defeats the purpose of separate quarantine rooms, but Torchwood is above such things. Or, more to the point, the plague's almost been sorted out and if anyone upstairs had it, they probably would have noticed already

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[whotrulyloves]

It pays to be able to find people whenever you want, considering it saves time wandering the halls, looking for the room.

With that in mind, Penny's standing in Sam's doorway within minutes of her response to his journal entry, lightly knocking on the doorframe to politely signal her arrival, her eyes focused on Sam.

"Sam Tyler?" She asks, both a question and something of a greeting, even if the question part is somewhat irrelevant at this point.

[definitivestep]

Sam looks up at the knock and gives her a quick smile. "Penny?" Just a confirmation, because he's never met the woman, and it's always possible someone else could be looking for him at the same time Penny is. Not a huge possibility, but even so. "Come in. And... close the door, if you don't mind."

Tosh glances over her shoulder at Penny and smiles at her, then glances to Sam. "Do you want me to leave?"

Sam shakes his head. "It's fine. I just need to..." He stops and frowns, reaching over to grab his laptop and set it on the bed, flipping it open. "Actually, could you bring up a map of the city? I'll need to be able to zoom in on specific areas."

Tosh shoots him a slightly condescending look - that sort of thing is child's play - and almost as soon as the words are out of his mouth, a map appears on screen. Sam smiles at her, choosing to ignore the expression.

[whotrulyloves]

"Yes, that's me," she smiles both at him and Tosh, and then quickly closes the door behind her as she steps inside. She watches the exchange quietly for a moment before finding the armchair situated in the corner and pulling it just a bit closer to the bed.

"So. You want me to find someone for you," she says in a way that suggests that it's not really a question, but a confirmation of what she understands. Her tone is businesslike for no reason other than this is a serious sort of situation (or seems to be), and she tends to get that way in situations like this. Lessons from her father, apparently.

[definitivestep]

Sam nods, picking up a specific paper from the pile - the police report about Florence. "You heard about Ms. Vassey's death?"

Most of the basement residents have, as far as he can tell. Information spreads quickly here, and this has had plenty of time to get around.

[whotrulyloves]

Penny nods soberly, lowering her gaze to her lap. She only met Florence once and it involved a conversation about communist doors, but she rather liked her. Never mind the fact that there's been far too much death here recently on top of that... And, honestly, that shows no sign of stopping, all things considered.

"Yes, the local news was less than gentle about it." Never mind the shock of seeing someone who looked like Des or Jack being pegged as the murderer. "It's a terrible thing to have happened."

[definitivestep]

"I noticed," he says with a grimace. "I'm sorry if you... knew her. We think the man who killed her was a shapechanger named John Hart. He knew a version of Jack in his universe, and has some sort of vendetta against him. We're trying to find him, but... like I said, he changes shape. It's not easy. I hoped you might be able to help with that."

[whotrulyloves]

She shakes her head. "It's nothing to be sorry about, Mr. Tyler. These things happen, however cruel and senseless they are."

She looks up at him after a moment, pursing her lips briefly, before nodding. "Well, I haven't failed to find anyone yet." Unless they were dead, but that's... Another story, and, unfortunately, that probably won't be the case here. "I'd be happy to help."

[definitivestep]

"Good. We might need you more than once, as we're not ready to track him down just yet, but any help you could give us... Is there anything you need to help you find him? I can't guarantee we'll have the necessary information, but..."

[whotrulyloves]

"Just the name is all it takes," she smiles. "It's easier when I know what I'm looking for, but it's not necessary."

She looks up at the ceiling for a second. "So you're just keeping track of his movements. Is that it?"

She can do that and she's been feeling relatively useless these days, especially what with that hanging over her head, so it'll be good for her.

[definitivestep]

"Until we can do something about him, yes." At least until Jack gets back from the clinic... "Especially if we can find where he's staying. He has to have some stable location somewhere in the city..." Though Sam has a feeling he'd been staying in the hotel until lately, which is deeply disturbing in many ways.

[whotrulyloves]

Penny nods again. "All right then. I'll do everything I can."

She pauses for a moment and decides that she might as well figure out where he is now while she's here and closes her eyes, concentrating on the name. It takes her a little less time than she expected, although why that is becomes evident when she manages to pinpoint his location.

"Well, he's not giving us a stable location at the moment unless he's living like a vagrant," she says, pinching the bridge of her nose as her mind settles back to her current location and not John Hart's location. "He's in the park across the street."

Yeah, because that's not greatly unsettling, especially since there's not much anyone can do about him at the moment and he's practically on top of them.

"I'll keep track," she adds as if it really needed to be repeated. "If I have to get one of those maps of the city and a bunch of push-pins to do it properly."

[definitivestep]

Sam blinks a little. Well, that's a surprising answer. And one that doesn't make him feel at all comfortable.

"He's... in the park across the street," he repeats, just to make sure he got that right. "Wonderful. We'll see what we can do about getting you a map and an ample supply of push pins."

"I'll ask Ianto to get you one," Tosh says from the desk. When in doubt, ask Ianto. For all she knows, he has a giant map and pushpins just lying around for just such an occasion.

[whotrulyloves]

"I haven't been wrong yet," she says off-handedly in a sort of 'I'm as shocked as you' sort of way. It's not exactly a pleasant concept.

She does almost laugh at Sam and Tosh's assurances that she'll get her map and push-pins, which makes the tension that suddenly worked it's way into her muscles at the thought of there being a shapeshifting murderer right across the street fade away. "Well, I was only half-serious when I suggested that, but if you can find both without too much trouble, I'd be happy to have them."

She won't mention that she used to have a very similar map... Although it was of the world and it was for finding something completely different, but.. That was another life ago, honestly.

[techniclybrill]

Tosh grins at her. "Well, it's that or trying to hook your brain up to a computer, and I don't think that would go well. Push pins are probably simpler."

[whotrulyloves]

Penny covers her mouth as she snickers in amusement. "Oh I agree. Far more comfortable this way."

She makes a move to stand up, looking from Tosh to Sam, smiling a bit more now. "Is there anything else you two need?"

[definitivestep]

Sam smiles gratefully at her. Well, here's one thing going right, at least. "Not at the moment, no. Just... keep in touch. And thank you."