When Mel came Home
t weevils and eat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Was that asking too much?Melissa's return had been the cause of a great deal of celebration. Everyone could tell she wasn't quite the same girl; she was a bit older,tougher, she SPOKE, she moved with no trace of injury at all. And she was a bit evasive about where she had been and what she had been doing.
Eventually she would talk things over with Jack, Ianto, Gwen and the others, but right now she wanted to concentrate on fitting back into the running of Torchwood, finding her own special niche.
On Jack's say so, Harry took Mel down to the basement. First, it was the firing range. He checked her out on several types of weapons at different distances, and drew his own conclusions. Then he put some mats down on the gym floor and tried to show her a few things about hand to hand combat.
She had smiled at him sweetly and proceeded to mop up the gym floor, using Harry as the mop.
Sometime between the tenth and fourteenth time he landed on his face, Harry realized that someone had very carefully instructed her on how to deal firmly with an opponent twice her size. Harry knew he was good; he had a black belt level grasp on several martial arts. He had also picked up old fashioned brawling skills as well. But something in the way Mel repeatedly and calmly kept putting him down made Harry glad they weren't sparring with knives or sticks. Or broken bottles.
And, shamefully, he realized that Mel was trying to be gentle with him. It was time to call a halt to this travesty. " I think", he said, pulling himself up off the mat for what felt like the hundredth time," that I can tell Jack we don't have to worry about your hand to hand skills. As a matter of fact, " he pressed his hands to the aching small of his back," I may ask you to teach a master class."
Mel gave him a cheerful grin, and gave Harry a correct student to sensei bow. He wincingly returned the bow, and watched as Mel energetically bounced towards the showers. Harry limped away, hoping Martha or Huw had a minute to look at his hip, it felt a bit off.....
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" Well, how is she in self defense? "
" Honestly, she danced rings around me. I don't think she even worked up a sweat." Shamefaced head shake, " She pulled her punches. Half my size and she was trying not to hurt me." Bewildered look. " How could she have learned all that, and been so completely healed, in under a year? She wasn't gone more than 7 or 8 months, was she? "
" I think," pause for thought, " I think that for her it was a bit longer. Does she still need firearms training? "
" More for the nuts and bolts of it. Someone made sure she got some extensive weapons training, just not with our kind of weapons. If she gets an hour of training a day, I'd say in a couple of months she'll be the equal of a good SAS soldier. "
" Let me know how she does. I can't let her out on patrols or retrievals until I know she can protect herself. Ianto and the ladies would skin me alive if anything ever happened to her."
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Jack found Mel in the kitchen, happily flipping cooled oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from a rack into a cookie tin. There was also the presence of a large soup pot on the stove, quietly burbling and smelling delightfully of homemade chicken soup. Since she had come back, Mel spent more time helping Rhi around the place; cooking, vacuuming, looking after the kids. Occasionally she still gave Ianto and Lois a hand in the archives. But her main focus now seemed to be in helping look after everybody. Best of all, Ianto and Rhi had taught her the Jones family coffee magic.
Jack grabbed a couple of mugs from the cupboard, and poured two coffees from the ever present urn on the counter. He gathered up a pot of sugar and one of cream, and motioned with his head towards the tables. Mel followed him over. It was that time.
They sat down opposite each other and absorbed coffee for a minute. Then Jack put his hands gently but firmly over the tattooed cuffs around Mel's wrists. " If I were to mention the clans of The D'sh, would you know what I meant? "
" The Desh, Jack. In the 51st century it's probably been contracted down to D'sh, but now it's still Desh. Yes, I do know what you mean. "
" Is that where The Doctor took you when you left? "
" Yes, that's who I spent a great deal of my time with. They knew where I could get fixed, they looked after me."
Jack brushed his fingers over the black filigree of script on her right forearm. " I believe this translates into...Sister-daughter of the Desh, a non combatant. Never to be considered of the warrior class, a teacher caregiver to the young." Jack tapped her left wrist . " But it's this one that concerns me...."
Mel smiled fondly at him. " Well, what does it say? Go on then. "
" Basically it says that if someone is foolish enough to ignore your non combatant status, all condolences to the attacker's family and friends, don't say there was no warning given. And that you've got lots of big brothers and sisters who are of warrior status and love their baby sister. "
" With all the rights and duties there of. By the way, how is Harry? "
" He may eventually physically recover. But his ego? Never. "
They laughed over that.
" Jack, what dealings did you have with the clans , before you joined the Doctor? "
Jack drummed his fingertips on his mug as he thought for a minute. " I always had a welcome in the clans. The Mothers always seemed to see me coming, they never fell for any of my shenanigans. But I was always welcome...."
Mel sat quietly, gazing at him. Waiting for the dime to drop. Jack wasn't stupid. Eventually....
Jack froze. Finally the knowledge of what Mel had done for him, for all of them, streaked through his brain. Grinning wickedly, he asked, " Who did you appoint as Clan Mothers? "
Relieved, Mel relaxed in her chair. " Gwen, Alice, Rhi...and Myfanwy. "
" No! " Shocked amusement.
" Now , Jack, don't be speciesist. Being a dinosaur doesn't make her less motherly. She enjoys fussing over the kids." She stared him seriously in the eyes, " We are the Torchwood branch of The Desh. And as I said, rights and duties. We will be taking in a few lost souls Jack, because we can and because we need them. " She held up her hand. " I know, you are still head of Torchwood, but my healing came at a cost. Did I mention the privileges? "
Jack was watching her through dangerously narrowed eyes. True, the people she had brought in to Torchwood were a perfect fit. " Alright,what does Torchwood get out of linking up with The Desh? "
" For one thing, information on what's going on out there, who's in the neighbourhood looking for trouble. And some actual HELP when thing's go pear shaped. In return, " she shrugged, " Well, we're going to be asked to take on some young people. Some to foster, some to adopt. As a matter of fact, I wanted to talk to you about adopting someone...." Mel had the good grace to look a bit sheepish.
" Oh, really? And you were going to talk about this with me when? "
" I was working up to it! I just got back, I'm still sorting myself out."
Jack growled " Who is coming , Mel? Is this going to be a danger to the team? "
Mel shook her head. " Korritt? She's just a kid. Think impressionable 15 year old with big scared eyes and a bit too skinny. She was orphaned about five years ago under pretty harrowing circumstances. The Desh who took me in are fostering her, but are looking to adopt her out. She and I kind of clicked while I was there. I told the clan mothers I was interested in making her my baby sister. By the way, did I mention she's not entirely human? "
Jack dropped his head to the table. How had he gotten roped into this? He just wanted to hunt weevils and eat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Was that asking too much?
Eventually she would talk things over with Jack, Ianto, Gwen and the others, but right now she wanted to concentrate on fitting back into the running of Torchwood, finding her own special niche.
On Jack's say so, Harry took Mel down to the basement. First, it was the firing range. He checked her out on several types of weapons at different distances, and drew his own conclusions. Then he put some mats down on the gym floor and tried to show her a few things about hand to hand combat.
She had smiled at him sweetly and proceeded to mop up the gym floor, using Harry as the mop.
Sometime between the tenth and fourteenth time he landed on his face, Harry realized that someone had very carefully instructed her on how to deal firmly with an opponent twice her size. Harry knew he was good; he had a black belt level grasp on several martial arts. He had also picked up old fashioned brawling skills as well. But something in the way Mel repeatedly and calmly kept putting him down made Harry glad they weren't sparring with knives or sticks. Or broken bottles.
And, shamefully, he realized that Mel was trying to be gentle with him. It was time to call a halt to this travesty. " I think", he said, pulling himself up off the mat for what felt like the hundredth time," that I can tell Jack we don't have to worry about your hand to hand skills. As a matter of fact, " he pressed his hands to the aching small of his back," I may ask you to teach a master class."
Mel gave him a cheerful grin, and gave Harry a correct student to sensei bow. He wincingly returned the bow, and watched as Mel energetically bounced towards the showers. Harry limped away, hoping Martha or Huw had a minute to look at his hip, it felt a bit off.....
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
" Well, how is she in self defense? "
" Honestly, she danced rings around me. I don't think she even worked up a sweat." Shamefaced head shake, " She pulled her punches. Half my size and she was trying not to hurt me." Bewildered look. " How could she have learned all that, and been so completely healed, in under a year? She wasn't gone more than 7 or 8 months, was she? "
" I think," pause for thought, " I think that for her it was a bit longer. Does she still need firearms training? "
" More for the nuts and bolts of it. Someone made sure she got some extensive weapons training, just not with our kind of weapons. If she gets an hour of training a day, I'd say in a couple of months she'll be the equal of a good SAS soldier. "
" Let me know how she does. I can't let her out on patrols or retrievals until I know she can protect herself. Ianto and the ladies would skin me alive if anything ever happened to her."
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Jack found Mel in the kitchen, happily flipping cooled oatmeal chocolate chip cookies from a rack into a cookie tin. There was also the presence of a large soup pot on the stove, quietly burbling and smelling delightfully of homemade chicken soup. Since she had come back, Mel spent more time helping Rhi around the place; cooking, vacuuming, looking after the kids. Occasionally she still gave Ianto and Lois a hand in the archives. But her main focus now seemed to be in helping look after everybody. Best of all, Ianto and Rhi had taught her the Jones family coffee magic.
Jack grabbed a couple of mugs from the cupboard, and poured two coffees from the ever present urn on the counter. He gathered up a pot of sugar and one of cream, and motioned with his head towards the tables. Mel followed him over. It was that time.
They sat down opposite each other and absorbed coffee for a minute. Then Jack put his hands gently but firmly over the tattooed cuffs around Mel's wrists. " If I were to mention the clans of The D'sh, would you know what I meant? "
" The Desh, Jack. In the 51st century it's probably been contracted down to D'sh, but now it's still Desh. Yes, I do know what you mean. "
" Is that where The Doctor took you when you left? "
" Yes, that's who I spent a great deal of my time with. They knew where I could get fixed, they looked after me."
Jack brushed his fingers over the black filigree of script on her right forearm. " I believe this translates into...Sister-daughter of the Desh, a non combatant. Never to be considered of the warrior class, a teacher caregiver to the young." Jack tapped her left wrist . " But it's this one that concerns me...."
Mel smiled fondly at him. " Well, what does it say? Go on then. "
" Basically it says that if someone is foolish enough to ignore your non combatant status, all condolences to the attacker's family and friends, don't say there was no warning given. And that you've got lots of big brothers and sisters who are of warrior status and love their baby sister. "
" With all the rights and duties there of. By the way, how is Harry? "
" He may eventually physically recover. But his ego? Never. "
They laughed over that.
" Jack, what dealings did you have with the clans , before you joined the Doctor? "
Jack drummed his fingertips on his mug as he thought for a minute. " I always had a welcome in the clans. The Mothers always seemed to see me coming, they never fell for any of my shenanigans. But I was always welcome...."
Mel sat quietly, gazing at him. Waiting for the dime to drop. Jack wasn't stupid. Eventually....
Jack froze. Finally the knowledge of what Mel had done for him, for all of them, streaked through his brain. Grinning wickedly, he asked, " Who did you appoint as Clan Mothers? "
Relieved, Mel relaxed in her chair. " Gwen, Alice, Rhi...and Myfanwy. "
" No! " Shocked amusement.
" Now , Jack, don't be speciesist. Being a dinosaur doesn't make her less motherly. She enjoys fussing over the kids." She stared him seriously in the eyes, " We are the Torchwood branch of The Desh. And as I said, rights and duties. We will be taking in a few lost souls Jack, because we can and because we need them. " She held up her hand. " I know, you are still head of Torchwood, but my healing came at a cost. Did I mention the privileges? "
Jack was watching her through dangerously narrowed eyes. True, the people she had brought in to Torchwood were a perfect fit. " Alright,what does Torchwood get out of linking up with The Desh? "
" For one thing, information on what's going on out there, who's in the neighbourhood looking for trouble. And some actual HELP when thing's go pear shaped. In return, " she shrugged, " Well, we're going to be asked to take on some young people. Some to foster, some to adopt. As a matter of fact, I wanted to talk to you about adopting someone...." Mel had the good grace to look a bit sheepish.
" Oh, really? And you were going to talk about this with me when? "
" I was working up to it! I just got back, I'm still sorting myself out."
Jack growled " Who is coming , Mel? Is this going to be a danger to the team? "
Mel shook her head. " Korritt? She's just a kid. Think impressionable 15 year old with big scared eyes and a bit too skinny. She was orphaned about five years ago under pretty harrowing circumstances. The Desh who took me in are fostering her, but are looking to adopt her out. She and I kind of clicked while I was there. I told the clan mothers I was interested in making her my baby sister. By the way, did I mention she's not entirely human? "
Jack dropped his head to the table. How had he gotten roped into this? He just wanted to hunt weevils and eat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Was that asking too much?