Fic: It All Falls Apart - Torchwood - PG
Author: Book_Junkie007
Pairing: None, team
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 3871 words
Warnings: Spoilers for End of Days
Notes: Thanks to karaokegal for being beta.
Summary: "Fix-it" fic for End of Days, in which I break things even more. AU ending to the episode.
Owen looked up from the computer he was working at, as Gwen came into the Hub, half carrying, half dragging Jack through the door with her.
The others rushed over to help her as she gently deposited Jack on the floor.
“There’s something I have to do first; don’t move him until I’m back,” Gwen warned them before rushing out of the Hub, the cog door shrieking behind her.
“Let’s at least get him off the floor,” Ianto said, staring at the body of Jack. “Help me, please?” he asked Owen.
“All right,” Owen said, and moved to help him.
Together they got Jack’s body off the floor and deposited him into a nearby desk chair. It wasn’t the perfect place for Jack, but it was more dignified than leaving him sprawled in a heap.
“Right, I’m just going to go get some supplies,” Owen said, heading toward the med bay. Things had been chaotic ever since Jack had taken Gwen with him to where ever it was they went off to leaving Owen, Ianto, and Toshiko to go back to the Hub and assess the damage. Partway through their inspection of the upper levels, before Owen had even had a chance to check on the medical bay, the Hub had started to shake again, except this time it had been the Hub putting itself back to its normal, slightly scuzzy glory.
He stopped on the upper level of the med bay and stared at the body still on the exam table. It couldn’t be possible: Bilis Manger had said everything would go back to normal after the Rift opened, so why was this one still here? Granted, Bilis had also failed to mention they would release a demon onto Cardiff.
Owen felt someone come up behind him.
“Is that...” Ianto started going down the stairs.
“Yeah,” Owen said, following him.
Owen went over Rhys again, looking for any hint of vital signs, ran every test he could think of, and the answer was the same as before they had opened the Rift. Ianto watched from the stairs, Tosh from the upper level.
“He’s dead,” Owen confirmed, stepping back from Rhys’ body.
“Poor Gwen,” Toshiko whispered sadly. “What about Jack?” she asked, reminding Owen there was more than one body to deal with. “We should probably check him as well.”
“On it,” Owen said, going back to the entrance of the Hub. “Ianto, could you help me move him?”
“Sure,” Ianto replied, moving to help Owen. “Did anyone else notice how Gwen wasn’t surprised when Jack recovered from being shot in the forehead?”
“Yes,” Toshiko said, following the men. “It’s almost as if she knew already.”
“I wonder how long she’s known for,” Owen mused. “And how she found out. If we didn’t know, and we’ve been working with him much longer than she has. It must have been fairly recently.”
“Or it happened a while ago and she’s just that good at keeping secrets,” Ianto suggested. “She may be more suited to working for Torchwood than we gave her credit for.”
“And wouldn’t that be a surprise?” mumbled Owen. “Right,” he said louder, “let’s put Jack over there and I’ll take a look.”
With a bit of a grunting, Owen and Ianto settled Jack on another examining table. Owen then proceeded to take Jack’s vitals.
“He’s dead,” Owen pronounced. “No pulse, no breathing, his blood pressure is nonexistent, there’s no brain activity, and he is starting to cool to below normal body temperature.”
“So, what shall we do with them?” Ianto asked calmly, too calmly, Owen thought. It was one thing to be professional, but this was something else altogether, almost bordering on robotic. When the others had found out about Lisa, there had been crying, yelling, and screaming. The lack of emotion slightly worried Owen.
“Put them in the morgue until we figure out what’s being done with Rhys,” Owen responded.
“All right,” Ianto said and the team set about getting Rhys and Jack to the morgue.
~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~
Gwen ran to the door of her flat, hands shaking as she fumbled with the keys.
“Rhys?” she yelled, running up the stairs. “Rhys, are you here, sweetheart?”
She started tearing through the flat, opening every door she could think of, frantically calling Rhys’ name.
Finally she admitted defeat, and sank onto the sofa, pulling out her mobile and dialing a number.
“Ianto,” Gwen said, her voice cracking, “I can’t find Rhys.”
“We did,” Ianto replied. “I’m sorry.”
Gwen closed her eyes and let the tears fall, keeping Ianto on the line.
“Ianto,” Gwen said shakily, “I’m coming back to the Hub.”
“We’ll be here,” Ianto said calmly, and disconnected the call.
~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~
Gwen stumbled into the Hub, her eyes still red from crying. The rest of the team was there to greet her.
“Where is he?” she asked.
“Which one? Jack or Rhys?” Owen asked.
“Either. Both,” Gwen replied, her voice catching just a bit.
“We’ve set them both up in the morgue. Let’s go see them,” Toshiko suggested gently.
Gwen started walking towards the morgue and then stopped. “Wait, who decided Jack was dead? He can’t die,” she said.
“I did,” Owen said. “His vitals are nonexistent, so if he was anyone else, or in a hospital setting, the official diagnosis would be he’s dead.”
“He told me himself he can’t die,” Gwen insisted. “There has to just be something, I don’t know, wrong, with his healing capabilities.”
“As it stands right now, Jack’s dead,” Owen said firmly.
“All right,” Gwen grumbled, and continued walking to the morgue, the others following.
Gwen sat beside Rhys, holding his hand for a bit. She kissed him, and stared at him expectantly, almost expecting him to wake up, and that the past couple days had only been a bad dream. But he didn’t.
“I guess I should phone his parents,” Gwen finally said. “His mam’s going to be furious.”
“I take it she doesn’t like you much?” Ianto asked.
“Not at all,” Gwen replied. “According to her, I’m the reason behind all the ‘horrible’ decisions he’s made.”
“Rhys, make horrible decisions?” Owen scoffed. “I didn’t know him that well, but I would have thought he made sensible decisions.”
“Not according to her,” Gwen said with a twist of bitterness in her voice. “I’ll go make the call in the lounge.”
Gwen slowly walked up the stairs to the lounge area. She sat on the sofa and pulled out her mobile.
“Mrs. Williams,” Gwen said when the other end was picked up. “Hi. I have a bit of bad news,” she said, trying to not let her voice crack.
“What did Rhys do this time?” Brenda asked with a sigh of exasperation. “And why are you the one phoning? If Rhys messed up, he should be talking to me directly, not hiding behind you.”
Gwen winced a bit, then went on. “There was an accident at his work. A piece of machinery fell on him and stabbed him. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was already dead. There was nothing they could do,” she said. She then wondered how on earth she had gotten so good at lying. Before Torchwood, she had been such an honest person, and now her life was nothing but secrets and lies. Comes with the territory, I guess, she mused.
There was absolute silence on the other end of the line for a long time and then, finally, “Thank you for telling me,” Brenda said stiffly. It sounded to Gwen like she was trying to not to cry, not with her on the line. “We’ll take care of the funeral arrangements.”
“Right, right, of course,” Gwen said quickly. “Let me just contact the hospital where they’re holding him, and I’ll get back to you with the details.”
“Thanks,” Brenda replied shortly and hung up.
Gwen sat on the sofa for a moment then walked back to the morgue where the rest of the team was waiting for her.
“Right,” Gwen said, pulling herself together. “What’s standard procedure for deceased Torchwood operatives, apart from packing up their belongings and putting them in storage?”
“We’ll do it, Gwen,” Owen answered. “You just worry about yourself.”
“I’ll worry about myself when everything else is done,” Gwen said quietly. Louder, “Let’s deal with Jack.”
“Gwen, Jack’s gone,” Toshiko hypothesised.
“Jack can’t be gone,” Gwen said desperately. “He just can’t be. I would like to sit with him.” She couldn’t think of losing Jack so soon after losing Rhys.
“Gwen, you do realise he might not wake up,” Ianto commented.
“I’m going to sit with him,” Gwen declared, even more firmly.
She watched as Toshiko, Owen, and Ianto glanced at each other before leaving the morgue.
Gwen had faith in her leader, in her Captain, and knew that he wouldn’t abandon them so easily. Sitting with Jack for days on end, Gwen made a decision: Torchwood had to go on, with or without Jack. She began to think about how to reorganise Torchwood to operate efficiently without Jack.
Gwen looked up from her perch on her stool as Toshiko came down to the morgue and approached her. Gwen had lost count of how long she had been sitting there, but at some point Ianto brought down a stool for her to sit on. He’d also been providing a steady supply of food and coffee. Toshiko stood on the other side of Jack’s table.
“Gwen, can I talk to you for a second?” Toshiko asked.
“Yeah,” Gwen said.
“You know he’s gone,” Toshiko continued. “It’s been three days.”
Gwen stared at Toshiko for a moment. “He can’t be gone,” she repeated. “If he’s gone, I have nothing left.”
“Except for us,” Toshiko said gently. “You’ll have us and the Hub.”
“What if it isn’t enough?” Gwen whispered, staring at Jack’s still form.
Toshiko didn’t say anything for a few moments, then, “Would you at least come up to the main part of the Hub for a few minutes? We’re worried about you.”
Gwen looked at Tosh for a moment. “All right.”
“Thank you,” Toshiko said, and walked out of the morgue.
Gwen stared at Jack for a bit then held his hand and kissed him.
As she stood up and walked away, tears in her eyes, she heard a whispered thank you.
Gwen stopped in shock. It couldn’t be, could it? She rushed back to Jack to prove to herself that she had heard Jack say thank you, and, more importantly, that he was alive.
She paused to look him over. The paleness of his face didn’t surprise her: she had been staring at it for the past few days. What surprised her was how quickly the sparkle had come back into his eyes. She had expected for the glassy overlay on his eyes to stay longer.
“Welcome back,” Gwen whispered and hugged him tightly, feeling the muscles in his back through the thin gown. She felt safe.
“Thank you,” Jack repeated, hugging her back. After a few moments he pulled back and looked at her. “Would you be able to get me some clothes? As hot as this gown makes me look, I don’t want to wear it anywhere. I might cause some traffic jams,” he said with a wink. “I stashed some in the cells.”
“You cause traffic jams anyway, the way you drive,” Gwen said with a laugh, before going off to get them for him.
Gwen gave Jack his clothes, then turned to face the wall if only to preserve her views on modesty.
“Gwen? I’m decent,” Jack said.
“Okay,” Gwen turned around, only to see Jack still pulling on his undershirt. “No you’re not!” she said, laughing.
Jack gave her a cheeky grin before pulling on and buttoning up his shirt.
“Now I am,” he said.
Walking into the main part of the Hub, clutching Jack’s hand, Gwen felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Jack was alive; they wouldn’t have to handle difficult situations without him. She wouldn’t have to put her plans to reorganise Torchwood forward to the rest of the team for their approval.
Pausing in the door to the main part of the Hub, Gwen watched as Toshiko ran over to receive a hug, Ianto receiving a hug and an almost apologetic kiss (Gwen wondered what that was about), and Owen being held while he cried, with Jack occasionally kissing his hair and whispering reassurances. Gwen found herself averting her eyes.
There was a softness to Jack and Owen’s embrace which Gwen found uncomfortable to watch. She started to feel a sense of peace. The team was back together, and Jack was safe. Although Rhys was gone, she still had this group of people to fall back on.
Later, when the others went out to pick up the Chinese food, Jack and Gwen sat in Jack’s office together.
“The visions we had,” Gwen said. “We all saw people we loved. What did you see?”
Jack said nothing for a moment, then, “Nothing. There was nothing.”
“Jack,” Gwen pressed. “What would have tempted you? What visions would have convinced you to open the Rift?”
Jack sat quietly then said reluctantly, “The right kind of Doctor.”
“Jack,” Gwen repeated.
Gwen felt like she was getting close to understanding Jack, but then he abruptly closed off.
“Where are they with the Chinese food? I’m starving,” he asked, walking out of the office.
Gwen didn’t reply: she knew the question was rhetorical and that Jack just didn’t want to talk about himself any more. She heard a beeping sound and a strange humming, and then, nothing. She walked out of Jack’s office, calling for him, and ran into the others.
“Did you see Jack when you came in?” she asked.
When the others answered negatively, a lump grew in Gwen’s throat. Maybe she would have to put the plans forward to the others after all. She’d give Jack a week; he wouldn’t leave them for longer than that, surely?
~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~
Rhys’ funeral was horrible. His mum kept throwing dirty glances over to Gwen, who was standing with the other Torchwood operatives around Rhys’ grave.
“It’s obvious she blames me,” Gwen whispered. “If it weren’t for me, Rhys would still be alive.”
“Gwen, stop,” Owen said. “We didn’t realise what would happen if Rhys was in the Hub when he died. That if he died, he would stay dead.”
“It could have been any of us, to be honest,” Toshiko added. “We were just lucky.”
“Right, lucky,” Gwen blinked hard. “But Rhys wasn’t.”
“Gwen,” Ianto started. “If you don’t want to go back to your flat tonight, and don’t want to go to the Hub either, you’re more than welcome to stay at mine. I have a comfortable couch to offer.”
“And if you don’t want to go home, but don’t want to impose on Ianto, you could always come to mine,” Toshiko added.
“Or mine,” Owen agreed. “We could even start a roster if you like.”
“Thanks,” Gwen said. “I would like that.” She reached blindly for hands to hold, finding Ianto and Toshiko’s. They let her hold their hands and continued to watch Rhys’ coffin be lowered into the ground.
~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~
Two weeks after Jack’s disappearance, Gwen sat in the upper level office sorting through the piles of paperwork in dismay. She knew Jack hated paperwork, but this was ridiculous. She looked up at the sound of tapping on the glass door.
“Thought you would like some coffee,” Ianto said, entering the room with two cups.
“You’re a sweetheart,” Gwen said gratefully, accepting the coffee.
“So, how’s it going?” Ianto asked, sitting down in the chair across the desk from Gwen.
“Not the best,” Gwen said, taking a sip of coffee and setting it aside. “Jack isn’t known for his diligence in keeping up with paper work.”
“Tell me about it,” Ianto said, taking a sip from his own mug. “Sometimes I had to threaten to revoke coffee privileges if he didn’t fill out an appropriate amount of paper work.”
“I found a government requisition form from January 2000, hidden under another stack of government requisition forms from 2003,” Gwen said, holding out the form to Ianto for him to look at.
“Well, at least he had some form of filing system, even if it doesn’t look like it,” Ianto said, accepting the form. “I’ll go put this in the archives.”
“Thank you,” Gwen said. “There’s another thing I would like to ask you, actually.”
“What is it?” Ianto asked.
“I’ve been thinking about Jack and Torchwood,” Gwen began. “Jack was the leader, and he never named a second in command after Suzie.”
“I don’t think he wanted to rush into things,” he replied, taking another sip of coffee.
“Yes, and now Torchwood is suffering for it,” Gwen continued, picking up her mug. “There’s no chain of command, and it’s starting to become obvious to the police as well. Remember that alien last week?”
“The one where, when it was finally captured, still managed to spray everyone with green goo? How can I forget? It took me hours to get the stains out of the upholstery in the SUV.”
“Yes, Andy was asking me where Jack was, and why we hadn’t had a procedure for capturing the alien. I couldn’t very well tell him Jack abandoned us.”
“Things will get better though. They have to,” Ianto said, in his more reassuring voice.
“I think we’re settling down though,” Gwen said, sipping her coffee. “Tosh and Owen are starting to let me make the decisions, and they’re doing what I ask.”
She thought about what had happened earlier in the day.
Torchwood walked up to the police tape.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” the police man guarding the tape asked.
Gwen stepped forward. “Special ops. We were the ones who requested the transfer of this case.”
“All right then,” the man said, lifting the tape so Gwen, Toshiko, and Owen could pass underneath.
“Thank you,” Gwen said as she passed him.
He responded with a grunt.
“Right,” she said. “Tosh, could you take some readings; Owen, could you figure out a possible way of getting it out of the earth without breaking it? Last thing we need is a repeat of what happened my first day,” she said with a chuckle.
“Of course,” Owen said. “We wouldn’t want you snogging Tosh now, would we?” he said acerbically.
“Oi,” Gwen snapped. “Not acceptable, Owen.”
Grumbling to himself, Owen started to dig the object out of the earth, while Tosh continued her readings, and Gwen knelt down to help him.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Gwen said quietly as she started to help dig the surrounding dirt gently away. “It’s just there’s a time and a place, and when we’re out, we’re already on shaky ground with the locals. I don’t want them to have further reasons to dislike us.”
“It’s all right,” Owen grunted.
“Hey,” Gwen said, gently bumping Owen’s shoulder. “Next time we go out, I’ll buy you a drink, okay?”
“If you can get me a bird as well, you’re on,” he said, and went back to work.
Together, Tosh, Gwen, and Owen retrieved the item from the ground and packed it carefully in a bag. They then went to leave the scene.
“Hey!” the grumpy man from earlier said. “You can’t leave with that!”
Gwen turned around. “Yes, we can,” she said sharply. “When we request the transfer of a case, we mean the complete transfer of a case. Which includes the ability for us to leave the scenes with whatever artifacts we so choose. If you have problems with that, here’s my number, you may express your concerns,” Gwen said, scribbling down her cell number on a scrap of paper and handing it to the man.
The man accepted the paper gracelessly. “Are you in charge then?”
Gwen glanced at Owen and Toshiko, and they nodded slightly. “Yes,” she said quietly. “Yes, I am,” she said, more strongly. “Have a good night.”
Gwen walked back to the SUV flanked by Toshiko and Owen.
“Thanks for backing me up,” she said to them, getting into the passenger seat.
“Not a problem,” Toshiko said, stowing the relic in the back carefully before getting in herself.
“Better you than me,” Owen said, getting into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. “I would have probably yelled at him. You can at least be ... diplomatic when you choose,” he addressed Gwen.
“Thanks,” Gwen said with a slight smile, and turned to look at the streets of Cardiff streaming by.
Gwen came back to the present. “There’s just you,” she continued.
“What about me?” Ianto asked.
“You were at Canary Wharf with Torchwood One, weren’t you?” Ianto’s mouth tightened at this. Gwen went on quickly, “Which means you’re senior to me. I would just like to make sure you’re okay with me being in charge.”
Ianto’s expression smoothed into one of understanding. “I’m fine with it. The others respect you, and you seem to be doing okay so far.”
“Okay,” Gwen said, nodding to herself. “Would I be able to ask a favor of you then?”
“What is it?” Ianto asked.
“Would you mind being my second in command? I’ve been thinking about it, and you are the most qualified, even if you haven’t been at this branch of Torchwood very long. I need someone with experience at my side, to figure out how to best lead us and run the organisation. So, would you?” she asked, almost pleading.
Ianto thought about it for a moment. “Yes, yes I would,” he answered.
“Great,” Gwen said, a relieved grin spreading on her face. “I wasn’t sure who I would have asked otherwise.”
“I’m sure you would have thought of something,” Ianto said. “May I make a toast?”
“Of course,” Gwen said.
“All right then. A toast to us, and Torchwood. May we stumble along as best we can until Jack comes back,” Ianto said, holding up his coffee mug.
“A toast,” Gwen said, lifting her coffee mug in response.
They drank their coffee then sat back in their chairs.
“I guess I should tell the others my ideas for the reorganization of Torchwood,” Gwen mused. “Make sure they’ll be okay with the changes.”
“That can wait,” Ianto said. “We’ll have plenty of time to sort things out.”
“I guess we will,” Gwen said with a small smile.
“Rift activity,” Tosh called through the Hub.
“Right,” Gwen said. “Back to work.”
The two set down their coffees and got up.
“How much do you want to bet Owen will get something spilt on him?” Gwen asked as they walked out the door.
“Not going to take that one,” Ianto said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Your loss,” Gwen said. “All right, let’s go!” she called.
“Bags driving!” Owen said, already on his way out the cog door.
“You drove last time!” Gwen called in annoyance.
“Better be faster next time,” Owen called back.
“You’ll have things ready when we get back?” Gwen asked. “And then we can talk about your new duties.”
“Of course,” Ianto nodded. “Go have fun, but be careful.”
Gwen gave Ianto a small smile and followed her team out the door.
On A03
Pairing: None, team
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 3871 words
Warnings: Spoilers for End of Days
Notes: Thanks to karaokegal for being beta.
Summary: "Fix-it" fic for End of Days, in which I break things even more. AU ending to the episode.
Owen looked up from the computer he was working at, as Gwen came into the Hub, half carrying, half dragging Jack through the door with her.
The others rushed over to help her as she gently deposited Jack on the floor.
“There’s something I have to do first; don’t move him until I’m back,” Gwen warned them before rushing out of the Hub, the cog door shrieking behind her.
“Let’s at least get him off the floor,” Ianto said, staring at the body of Jack. “Help me, please?” he asked Owen.
“All right,” Owen said, and moved to help him.
Together they got Jack’s body off the floor and deposited him into a nearby desk chair. It wasn’t the perfect place for Jack, but it was more dignified than leaving him sprawled in a heap.
“Right, I’m just going to go get some supplies,” Owen said, heading toward the med bay. Things had been chaotic ever since Jack had taken Gwen with him to where ever it was they went off to leaving Owen, Ianto, and Toshiko to go back to the Hub and assess the damage. Partway through their inspection of the upper levels, before Owen had even had a chance to check on the medical bay, the Hub had started to shake again, except this time it had been the Hub putting itself back to its normal, slightly scuzzy glory.
He stopped on the upper level of the med bay and stared at the body still on the exam table. It couldn’t be possible: Bilis Manger had said everything would go back to normal after the Rift opened, so why was this one still here? Granted, Bilis had also failed to mention they would release a demon onto Cardiff.
Owen felt someone come up behind him.
“Is that...” Ianto started going down the stairs.
“Yeah,” Owen said, following him.
Owen went over Rhys again, looking for any hint of vital signs, ran every test he could think of, and the answer was the same as before they had opened the Rift. Ianto watched from the stairs, Tosh from the upper level.
“He’s dead,” Owen confirmed, stepping back from Rhys’ body.
“Poor Gwen,” Toshiko whispered sadly. “What about Jack?” she asked, reminding Owen there was more than one body to deal with. “We should probably check him as well.”
“On it,” Owen said, going back to the entrance of the Hub. “Ianto, could you help me move him?”
“Sure,” Ianto replied, moving to help Owen. “Did anyone else notice how Gwen wasn’t surprised when Jack recovered from being shot in the forehead?”
“Yes,” Toshiko said, following the men. “It’s almost as if she knew already.”
“I wonder how long she’s known for,” Owen mused. “And how she found out. If we didn’t know, and we’ve been working with him much longer than she has. It must have been fairly recently.”
“Or it happened a while ago and she’s just that good at keeping secrets,” Ianto suggested. “She may be more suited to working for Torchwood than we gave her credit for.”
“And wouldn’t that be a surprise?” mumbled Owen. “Right,” he said louder, “let’s put Jack over there and I’ll take a look.”
With a bit of a grunting, Owen and Ianto settled Jack on another examining table. Owen then proceeded to take Jack’s vitals.
“He’s dead,” Owen pronounced. “No pulse, no breathing, his blood pressure is nonexistent, there’s no brain activity, and he is starting to cool to below normal body temperature.”
“So, what shall we do with them?” Ianto asked calmly, too calmly, Owen thought. It was one thing to be professional, but this was something else altogether, almost bordering on robotic. When the others had found out about Lisa, there had been crying, yelling, and screaming. The lack of emotion slightly worried Owen.
“Put them in the morgue until we figure out what’s being done with Rhys,” Owen responded.
“All right,” Ianto said and the team set about getting Rhys and Jack to the morgue.
~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~
Gwen ran to the door of her flat, hands shaking as she fumbled with the keys.
“Rhys?” she yelled, running up the stairs. “Rhys, are you here, sweetheart?”
She started tearing through the flat, opening every door she could think of, frantically calling Rhys’ name.
Finally she admitted defeat, and sank onto the sofa, pulling out her mobile and dialing a number.
“Ianto,” Gwen said, her voice cracking, “I can’t find Rhys.”
“We did,” Ianto replied. “I’m sorry.”
Gwen closed her eyes and let the tears fall, keeping Ianto on the line.
“Ianto,” Gwen said shakily, “I’m coming back to the Hub.”
“We’ll be here,” Ianto said calmly, and disconnected the call.
~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~
Gwen stumbled into the Hub, her eyes still red from crying. The rest of the team was there to greet her.
“Where is he?” she asked.
“Which one? Jack or Rhys?” Owen asked.
“Either. Both,” Gwen replied, her voice catching just a bit.
“We’ve set them both up in the morgue. Let’s go see them,” Toshiko suggested gently.
Gwen started walking towards the morgue and then stopped. “Wait, who decided Jack was dead? He can’t die,” she said.
“I did,” Owen said. “His vitals are nonexistent, so if he was anyone else, or in a hospital setting, the official diagnosis would be he’s dead.”
“He told me himself he can’t die,” Gwen insisted. “There has to just be something, I don’t know, wrong, with his healing capabilities.”
“As it stands right now, Jack’s dead,” Owen said firmly.
“All right,” Gwen grumbled, and continued walking to the morgue, the others following.
Gwen sat beside Rhys, holding his hand for a bit. She kissed him, and stared at him expectantly, almost expecting him to wake up, and that the past couple days had only been a bad dream. But he didn’t.
“I guess I should phone his parents,” Gwen finally said. “His mam’s going to be furious.”
“I take it she doesn’t like you much?” Ianto asked.
“Not at all,” Gwen replied. “According to her, I’m the reason behind all the ‘horrible’ decisions he’s made.”
“Rhys, make horrible decisions?” Owen scoffed. “I didn’t know him that well, but I would have thought he made sensible decisions.”
“Not according to her,” Gwen said with a twist of bitterness in her voice. “I’ll go make the call in the lounge.”
Gwen slowly walked up the stairs to the lounge area. She sat on the sofa and pulled out her mobile.
“Mrs. Williams,” Gwen said when the other end was picked up. “Hi. I have a bit of bad news,” she said, trying to not let her voice crack.
“What did Rhys do this time?” Brenda asked with a sigh of exasperation. “And why are you the one phoning? If Rhys messed up, he should be talking to me directly, not hiding behind you.”
Gwen winced a bit, then went on. “There was an accident at his work. A piece of machinery fell on him and stabbed him. By the time the ambulance arrived, he was already dead. There was nothing they could do,” she said. She then wondered how on earth she had gotten so good at lying. Before Torchwood, she had been such an honest person, and now her life was nothing but secrets and lies. Comes with the territory, I guess, she mused.
There was absolute silence on the other end of the line for a long time and then, finally, “Thank you for telling me,” Brenda said stiffly. It sounded to Gwen like she was trying to not to cry, not with her on the line. “We’ll take care of the funeral arrangements.”
“Right, right, of course,” Gwen said quickly. “Let me just contact the hospital where they’re holding him, and I’ll get back to you with the details.”
“Thanks,” Brenda replied shortly and hung up.
Gwen sat on the sofa for a moment then walked back to the morgue where the rest of the team was waiting for her.
“Right,” Gwen said, pulling herself together. “What’s standard procedure for deceased Torchwood operatives, apart from packing up their belongings and putting them in storage?”
“We’ll do it, Gwen,” Owen answered. “You just worry about yourself.”
“I’ll worry about myself when everything else is done,” Gwen said quietly. Louder, “Let’s deal with Jack.”
“Gwen, Jack’s gone,” Toshiko hypothesised.
“Jack can’t be gone,” Gwen said desperately. “He just can’t be. I would like to sit with him.” She couldn’t think of losing Jack so soon after losing Rhys.
“Gwen, you do realise he might not wake up,” Ianto commented.
“I’m going to sit with him,” Gwen declared, even more firmly.
She watched as Toshiko, Owen, and Ianto glanced at each other before leaving the morgue.
Gwen had faith in her leader, in her Captain, and knew that he wouldn’t abandon them so easily. Sitting with Jack for days on end, Gwen made a decision: Torchwood had to go on, with or without Jack. She began to think about how to reorganise Torchwood to operate efficiently without Jack.
Gwen looked up from her perch on her stool as Toshiko came down to the morgue and approached her. Gwen had lost count of how long she had been sitting there, but at some point Ianto brought down a stool for her to sit on. He’d also been providing a steady supply of food and coffee. Toshiko stood on the other side of Jack’s table.
“Gwen, can I talk to you for a second?” Toshiko asked.
“Yeah,” Gwen said.
“You know he’s gone,” Toshiko continued. “It’s been three days.”
Gwen stared at Toshiko for a moment. “He can’t be gone,” she repeated. “If he’s gone, I have nothing left.”
“Except for us,” Toshiko said gently. “You’ll have us and the Hub.”
“What if it isn’t enough?” Gwen whispered, staring at Jack’s still form.
Toshiko didn’t say anything for a few moments, then, “Would you at least come up to the main part of the Hub for a few minutes? We’re worried about you.”
Gwen looked at Tosh for a moment. “All right.”
“Thank you,” Toshiko said, and walked out of the morgue.
Gwen stared at Jack for a bit then held his hand and kissed him.
As she stood up and walked away, tears in her eyes, she heard a whispered thank you.
Gwen stopped in shock. It couldn’t be, could it? She rushed back to Jack to prove to herself that she had heard Jack say thank you, and, more importantly, that he was alive.
She paused to look him over. The paleness of his face didn’t surprise her: she had been staring at it for the past few days. What surprised her was how quickly the sparkle had come back into his eyes. She had expected for the glassy overlay on his eyes to stay longer.
“Welcome back,” Gwen whispered and hugged him tightly, feeling the muscles in his back through the thin gown. She felt safe.
“Thank you,” Jack repeated, hugging her back. After a few moments he pulled back and looked at her. “Would you be able to get me some clothes? As hot as this gown makes me look, I don’t want to wear it anywhere. I might cause some traffic jams,” he said with a wink. “I stashed some in the cells.”
“You cause traffic jams anyway, the way you drive,” Gwen said with a laugh, before going off to get them for him.
Gwen gave Jack his clothes, then turned to face the wall if only to preserve her views on modesty.
“Gwen? I’m decent,” Jack said.
“Okay,” Gwen turned around, only to see Jack still pulling on his undershirt. “No you’re not!” she said, laughing.
Jack gave her a cheeky grin before pulling on and buttoning up his shirt.
“Now I am,” he said.
Walking into the main part of the Hub, clutching Jack’s hand, Gwen felt an overwhelming sense of relief. Jack was alive; they wouldn’t have to handle difficult situations without him. She wouldn’t have to put her plans to reorganise Torchwood forward to the rest of the team for their approval.
Pausing in the door to the main part of the Hub, Gwen watched as Toshiko ran over to receive a hug, Ianto receiving a hug and an almost apologetic kiss (Gwen wondered what that was about), and Owen being held while he cried, with Jack occasionally kissing his hair and whispering reassurances. Gwen found herself averting her eyes.
There was a softness to Jack and Owen’s embrace which Gwen found uncomfortable to watch. She started to feel a sense of peace. The team was back together, and Jack was safe. Although Rhys was gone, she still had this group of people to fall back on.
Later, when the others went out to pick up the Chinese food, Jack and Gwen sat in Jack’s office together.
“The visions we had,” Gwen said. “We all saw people we loved. What did you see?”
Jack said nothing for a moment, then, “Nothing. There was nothing.”
“Jack,” Gwen pressed. “What would have tempted you? What visions would have convinced you to open the Rift?”
Jack sat quietly then said reluctantly, “The right kind of Doctor.”
“Jack,” Gwen repeated.
Gwen felt like she was getting close to understanding Jack, but then he abruptly closed off.
“Where are they with the Chinese food? I’m starving,” he asked, walking out of the office.
Gwen didn’t reply: she knew the question was rhetorical and that Jack just didn’t want to talk about himself any more. She heard a beeping sound and a strange humming, and then, nothing. She walked out of Jack’s office, calling for him, and ran into the others.
“Did you see Jack when you came in?” she asked.
When the others answered negatively, a lump grew in Gwen’s throat. Maybe she would have to put the plans forward to the others after all. She’d give Jack a week; he wouldn’t leave them for longer than that, surely?
~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~
Rhys’ funeral was horrible. His mum kept throwing dirty glances over to Gwen, who was standing with the other Torchwood operatives around Rhys’ grave.
“It’s obvious she blames me,” Gwen whispered. “If it weren’t for me, Rhys would still be alive.”
“Gwen, stop,” Owen said. “We didn’t realise what would happen if Rhys was in the Hub when he died. That if he died, he would stay dead.”
“It could have been any of us, to be honest,” Toshiko added. “We were just lucky.”
“Right, lucky,” Gwen blinked hard. “But Rhys wasn’t.”
“Gwen,” Ianto started. “If you don’t want to go back to your flat tonight, and don’t want to go to the Hub either, you’re more than welcome to stay at mine. I have a comfortable couch to offer.”
“And if you don’t want to go home, but don’t want to impose on Ianto, you could always come to mine,” Toshiko added.
“Or mine,” Owen agreed. “We could even start a roster if you like.”
“Thanks,” Gwen said. “I would like that.” She reached blindly for hands to hold, finding Ianto and Toshiko’s. They let her hold their hands and continued to watch Rhys’ coffin be lowered into the ground.
~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~
Two weeks after Jack’s disappearance, Gwen sat in the upper level office sorting through the piles of paperwork in dismay. She knew Jack hated paperwork, but this was ridiculous. She looked up at the sound of tapping on the glass door.
“Thought you would like some coffee,” Ianto said, entering the room with two cups.
“You’re a sweetheart,” Gwen said gratefully, accepting the coffee.
“So, how’s it going?” Ianto asked, sitting down in the chair across the desk from Gwen.
“Not the best,” Gwen said, taking a sip of coffee and setting it aside. “Jack isn’t known for his diligence in keeping up with paper work.”
“Tell me about it,” Ianto said, taking a sip from his own mug. “Sometimes I had to threaten to revoke coffee privileges if he didn’t fill out an appropriate amount of paper work.”
“I found a government requisition form from January 2000, hidden under another stack of government requisition forms from 2003,” Gwen said, holding out the form to Ianto for him to look at.
“Well, at least he had some form of filing system, even if it doesn’t look like it,” Ianto said, accepting the form. “I’ll go put this in the archives.”
“Thank you,” Gwen said. “There’s another thing I would like to ask you, actually.”
“What is it?” Ianto asked.
“I’ve been thinking about Jack and Torchwood,” Gwen began. “Jack was the leader, and he never named a second in command after Suzie.”
“I don’t think he wanted to rush into things,” he replied, taking another sip of coffee.
“Yes, and now Torchwood is suffering for it,” Gwen continued, picking up her mug. “There’s no chain of command, and it’s starting to become obvious to the police as well. Remember that alien last week?”
“The one where, when it was finally captured, still managed to spray everyone with green goo? How can I forget? It took me hours to get the stains out of the upholstery in the SUV.”
“Yes, Andy was asking me where Jack was, and why we hadn’t had a procedure for capturing the alien. I couldn’t very well tell him Jack abandoned us.”
“Things will get better though. They have to,” Ianto said, in his more reassuring voice.
“I think we’re settling down though,” Gwen said, sipping her coffee. “Tosh and Owen are starting to let me make the decisions, and they’re doing what I ask.”
She thought about what had happened earlier in the day.
Torchwood walked up to the police tape.
“I’m sorry, who are you?” the police man guarding the tape asked.
Gwen stepped forward. “Special ops. We were the ones who requested the transfer of this case.”
“All right then,” the man said, lifting the tape so Gwen, Toshiko, and Owen could pass underneath.
“Thank you,” Gwen said as she passed him.
He responded with a grunt.
“Right,” she said. “Tosh, could you take some readings; Owen, could you figure out a possible way of getting it out of the earth without breaking it? Last thing we need is a repeat of what happened my first day,” she said with a chuckle.
“Of course,” Owen said. “We wouldn’t want you snogging Tosh now, would we?” he said acerbically.
“Oi,” Gwen snapped. “Not acceptable, Owen.”
Grumbling to himself, Owen started to dig the object out of the earth, while Tosh continued her readings, and Gwen knelt down to help him.
“Look, I’m sorry, okay?” Gwen said quietly as she started to help dig the surrounding dirt gently away. “It’s just there’s a time and a place, and when we’re out, we’re already on shaky ground with the locals. I don’t want them to have further reasons to dislike us.”
“It’s all right,” Owen grunted.
“Hey,” Gwen said, gently bumping Owen’s shoulder. “Next time we go out, I’ll buy you a drink, okay?”
“If you can get me a bird as well, you’re on,” he said, and went back to work.
Together, Tosh, Gwen, and Owen retrieved the item from the ground and packed it carefully in a bag. They then went to leave the scene.
“Hey!” the grumpy man from earlier said. “You can’t leave with that!”
Gwen turned around. “Yes, we can,” she said sharply. “When we request the transfer of a case, we mean the complete transfer of a case. Which includes the ability for us to leave the scenes with whatever artifacts we so choose. If you have problems with that, here’s my number, you may express your concerns,” Gwen said, scribbling down her cell number on a scrap of paper and handing it to the man.
The man accepted the paper gracelessly. “Are you in charge then?”
Gwen glanced at Owen and Toshiko, and they nodded slightly. “Yes,” she said quietly. “Yes, I am,” she said, more strongly. “Have a good night.”
Gwen walked back to the SUV flanked by Toshiko and Owen.
“Thanks for backing me up,” she said to them, getting into the passenger seat.
“Not a problem,” Toshiko said, stowing the relic in the back carefully before getting in herself.
“Better you than me,” Owen said, getting into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. “I would have probably yelled at him. You can at least be ... diplomatic when you choose,” he addressed Gwen.
“Thanks,” Gwen said with a slight smile, and turned to look at the streets of Cardiff streaming by.
Gwen came back to the present. “There’s just you,” she continued.
“What about me?” Ianto asked.
“You were at Canary Wharf with Torchwood One, weren’t you?” Ianto’s mouth tightened at this. Gwen went on quickly, “Which means you’re senior to me. I would just like to make sure you’re okay with me being in charge.”
Ianto’s expression smoothed into one of understanding. “I’m fine with it. The others respect you, and you seem to be doing okay so far.”
“Okay,” Gwen said, nodding to herself. “Would I be able to ask a favor of you then?”
“What is it?” Ianto asked.
“Would you mind being my second in command? I’ve been thinking about it, and you are the most qualified, even if you haven’t been at this branch of Torchwood very long. I need someone with experience at my side, to figure out how to best lead us and run the organisation. So, would you?” she asked, almost pleading.
Ianto thought about it for a moment. “Yes, yes I would,” he answered.
“Great,” Gwen said, a relieved grin spreading on her face. “I wasn’t sure who I would have asked otherwise.”
“I’m sure you would have thought of something,” Ianto said. “May I make a toast?”
“Of course,” Gwen said.
“All right then. A toast to us, and Torchwood. May we stumble along as best we can until Jack comes back,” Ianto said, holding up his coffee mug.
“A toast,” Gwen said, lifting her coffee mug in response.
They drank their coffee then sat back in their chairs.
“I guess I should tell the others my ideas for the reorganization of Torchwood,” Gwen mused. “Make sure they’ll be okay with the changes.”
“That can wait,” Ianto said. “We’ll have plenty of time to sort things out.”
“I guess we will,” Gwen said with a small smile.
“Rift activity,” Tosh called through the Hub.
“Right,” Gwen said. “Back to work.”
The two set down their coffees and got up.
“How much do you want to bet Owen will get something spilt on him?” Gwen asked as they walked out the door.
“Not going to take that one,” Ianto said, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“Your loss,” Gwen said. “All right, let’s go!” she called.
“Bags driving!” Owen said, already on his way out the cog door.
“You drove last time!” Gwen called in annoyance.
“Better be faster next time,” Owen called back.
“You’ll have things ready when we get back?” Gwen asked. “And then we can talk about your new duties.”
“Of course,” Ianto nodded. “Go have fun, but be careful.”
Gwen gave Ianto a small smile and followed her team out the door.
On A03