They Left Rose Petals
Title: They Left Rose Petals
Author: Timelordshines
Characters: Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams
Rating: PG-13
Words: 1083
Spoilers: S1E5
Disclaimer: Characters and situations belong to RTD and the BBC - I’m just borrowing them.
Written for hc_bingo prompt "Loss of Possessions"
Author's Note: As always, comments and criticism are welcome and would help me to improve.
“Are you ok?” Rhys asked, noticing the way his girlfriend seemed distant again, like her mind was somewhere else. He tried not to think about how that was starting to become the status quo when he was talking to her, like she wished she was somewhere else. Or, he thought darkly, with someone else.
“No, I’ve had a bit of a weird day actually.” Gwen replied distractedly.
Work. It was always work. And she would never talk to him about it.
They rounded the corner into the flat, Rhys trailing behind Gwen, looking down at the floor. Gwen stopped suddenly and Rhys nearly walked into her. He looked up, and then slowly looked around the living room, his mouth opening in shock. “Bloody hell” he breathed, “what the hell’s going on here? How’d they get in? They smashed everything up the bastards!"
Gwen took a faltering step into the mess, her eyes coming to rest on the broken pottery placed in a ring, like standing stones, surrounded by rose petals. She knew what had done this. She felt sick.
She sensed Rhys coming to stand behind her and realised that he would assume this chaos was the result of a robbery. It was as good a cover story as any.
Rhys put his hands on his partner’s shoulders, and she turned into his embrace, burying her head in his shoulder. “Hey, it’s ok” he said, “we’ll sort it out.” He wanted to take charge, look after her and their home, but he realised that as a former police officer she probably knew a lot more about the proper protocol and procedure than he did. “Should we call the police? Or check to see what’s missing?”
Gwen knew there would be nothing missing. And it wasn’t a case she wanted the police to get involved in. She could understand Rhys’s need to take control, to feel like he was doing something but she had to stop him calling the police. “Just let me take some photos for evidence, then I can go and file the paperwork at the station tomorrow, get an incident number for the insurance and everything. We don’t need to call an officer out here. Whoever did this is long gone.” If he thought she was filing the report he wouldn’t call anyone in.
“Ok.” Rhys agreed, kissing the top of her head and letting her go so she could take the pictures.
Gwen walked around the flat, taking photos of everything and examining the doors and windows, for Rhys’s benefit so he would think she was looking to see how the intruders got in. Of course there was no forced entry. The faeries didn’t need to force their way in. When she had finished she sighed and said “Ok. All done.”
Rhys who had been trailing her around, watching her work, noticed the slump in her shoulders and the dejection with maybe a hint of fear and contained anger in her voice. Now that she had finished being the police officer it was suddenly more personal to her again. This was her home. Their home that someone had defiled. Rhys pulled Gwen into his embrace, stroking her long hair away from her face and kissing the tip of her nose. “We’ll sort it.” He repeated.
Gwen let him comfort her, even though she couldn’t tell him the truth. He couldn’t know what had done this and what had got her so upset. All she really wanted to do right now was talk to Jack, to find out how to stop these creatures. Instead she waited for Rhys to suggest their next move, understanding that he needed to feel in control.
“Let’s have a cup of tea and then we can start to go through everything making a note of what’s missing or broken, throw away the broken stuff and put things to rights.”
Gwen sat at the kitchen table, whilst Rhys fussed around her making tea, putting in far more sugar than she would have liked, but she didn’t say anything. He found the biscuit jar upside down in the sink. He opened the lid and pulled out a double chocolate chip cookie “the biscuits survived,” he said holding it out to Gwen with a small smile. Gwen smiled back absently and took it from him muttering her thanks, her mind quite literally away with the faeries.
When they had finished their drinks, Rhys stood up and fetched the roll of bin bags off the floor, where they had been pulled out of the cupboard. “Come on,” he said holding out his hands to help Gwen up “you look about as done in as I feel. Let’s sort the bedroom out first, then get some sleep. The rest will keep.”
“That sounds like a good plan” Gwen agreed, “you’ve got an early start at work tomorrow, so I’ll get up with you and get cracking on the rest of the flat. I’ll just let Jack know I’ll be a bit late in” she said reaching for her phone. “You go and get started, I’ll be through in a minute.” She waited for Rhys to go through to the bedroom before dialling Jack’s number.
“Jack, the faeries have been in my house.”
“Are you ok Gwen? I’m coming over, I’ll be right-“
“Jack.” she cut him off. “We’re fine. We were out. It was just a warning. But it means they can get in whenever they like. Jack, I’m scared. We need to stop them.”
“I know. We’re working on it. Do you want me to come over?”
“No.” Gwen sighed. “Rhys is here. He thinks it was a robbery.”
“How do you know it wasn’t?”
“They left rose petals. You can come and see tomorrow when Rhys has gone to work.”
“Ok, but if they come back, or you are worried, you call me immediately.”
“Thank you, Jack.” She said and ended the call.
Gwen went through to the bedroom, and stopped, leaning on the door jamb, watching as her boyfriend picked up a photograph of the two of them, wiped his fingers gently across the glass and replaced it on the bedside table with a small smile. Gwen smiled too. They would get through this, and anything else Torchwood and the Rift threw at them, together.
She went into the room and began the long task of helping Rhys to sort out the debris of their lives. Throwing away what was broken and carefully salvaging what they could.
Author: Timelordshines
Characters: Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams
Rating: PG-13
Words: 1083
Spoilers: S1E5
Disclaimer: Characters and situations belong to RTD and the BBC - I’m just borrowing them.
Written for hc_bingo prompt "Loss of Possessions"
Author's Note: As always, comments and criticism are welcome and would help me to improve.
“Are you ok?” Rhys asked, noticing the way his girlfriend seemed distant again, like her mind was somewhere else. He tried not to think about how that was starting to become the status quo when he was talking to her, like she wished she was somewhere else. Or, he thought darkly, with someone else.
“No, I’ve had a bit of a weird day actually.” Gwen replied distractedly.
Work. It was always work. And she would never talk to him about it.
They rounded the corner into the flat, Rhys trailing behind Gwen, looking down at the floor. Gwen stopped suddenly and Rhys nearly walked into her. He looked up, and then slowly looked around the living room, his mouth opening in shock. “Bloody hell” he breathed, “what the hell’s going on here? How’d they get in? They smashed everything up the bastards!"
Gwen took a faltering step into the mess, her eyes coming to rest on the broken pottery placed in a ring, like standing stones, surrounded by rose petals. She knew what had done this. She felt sick.
She sensed Rhys coming to stand behind her and realised that he would assume this chaos was the result of a robbery. It was as good a cover story as any.
Rhys put his hands on his partner’s shoulders, and she turned into his embrace, burying her head in his shoulder. “Hey, it’s ok” he said, “we’ll sort it out.” He wanted to take charge, look after her and their home, but he realised that as a former police officer she probably knew a lot more about the proper protocol and procedure than he did. “Should we call the police? Or check to see what’s missing?”
Gwen knew there would be nothing missing. And it wasn’t a case she wanted the police to get involved in. She could understand Rhys’s need to take control, to feel like he was doing something but she had to stop him calling the police. “Just let me take some photos for evidence, then I can go and file the paperwork at the station tomorrow, get an incident number for the insurance and everything. We don’t need to call an officer out here. Whoever did this is long gone.” If he thought she was filing the report he wouldn’t call anyone in.
“Ok.” Rhys agreed, kissing the top of her head and letting her go so she could take the pictures.
Gwen walked around the flat, taking photos of everything and examining the doors and windows, for Rhys’s benefit so he would think she was looking to see how the intruders got in. Of course there was no forced entry. The faeries didn’t need to force their way in. When she had finished she sighed and said “Ok. All done.”
Rhys who had been trailing her around, watching her work, noticed the slump in her shoulders and the dejection with maybe a hint of fear and contained anger in her voice. Now that she had finished being the police officer it was suddenly more personal to her again. This was her home. Their home that someone had defiled. Rhys pulled Gwen into his embrace, stroking her long hair away from her face and kissing the tip of her nose. “We’ll sort it.” He repeated.
Gwen let him comfort her, even though she couldn’t tell him the truth. He couldn’t know what had done this and what had got her so upset. All she really wanted to do right now was talk to Jack, to find out how to stop these creatures. Instead she waited for Rhys to suggest their next move, understanding that he needed to feel in control.
“Let’s have a cup of tea and then we can start to go through everything making a note of what’s missing or broken, throw away the broken stuff and put things to rights.”
Gwen sat at the kitchen table, whilst Rhys fussed around her making tea, putting in far more sugar than she would have liked, but she didn’t say anything. He found the biscuit jar upside down in the sink. He opened the lid and pulled out a double chocolate chip cookie “the biscuits survived,” he said holding it out to Gwen with a small smile. Gwen smiled back absently and took it from him muttering her thanks, her mind quite literally away with the faeries.
When they had finished their drinks, Rhys stood up and fetched the roll of bin bags off the floor, where they had been pulled out of the cupboard. “Come on,” he said holding out his hands to help Gwen up “you look about as done in as I feel. Let’s sort the bedroom out first, then get some sleep. The rest will keep.”
“That sounds like a good plan” Gwen agreed, “you’ve got an early start at work tomorrow, so I’ll get up with you and get cracking on the rest of the flat. I’ll just let Jack know I’ll be a bit late in” she said reaching for her phone. “You go and get started, I’ll be through in a minute.” She waited for Rhys to go through to the bedroom before dialling Jack’s number.
“Jack, the faeries have been in my house.”
“Are you ok Gwen? I’m coming over, I’ll be right-“
“Jack.” she cut him off. “We’re fine. We were out. It was just a warning. But it means they can get in whenever they like. Jack, I’m scared. We need to stop them.”
“I know. We’re working on it. Do you want me to come over?”
“No.” Gwen sighed. “Rhys is here. He thinks it was a robbery.”
“How do you know it wasn’t?”
“They left rose petals. You can come and see tomorrow when Rhys has gone to work.”
“Ok, but if they come back, or you are worried, you call me immediately.”
“Thank you, Jack.” She said and ended the call.
Gwen went through to the bedroom, and stopped, leaning on the door jamb, watching as her boyfriend picked up a photograph of the two of them, wiped his fingers gently across the glass and replaced it on the bedside table with a small smile. Gwen smiled too. They would get through this, and anything else Torchwood and the Rift threw at them, together.
She went into the room and began the long task of helping Rhys to sort out the debris of their lives. Throwing away what was broken and carefully salvaging what they could.