Sparkling Cosmos {A Torchwood Story Two} [COMPLETED]

7. Day One

We all trudge into work on a very early and cold winter morning to come face to face with that black-haired woman we met the other day. Gwen Cooper is her name. I thought she'd been Retconned?

I yawn and Ianto holds out a coffee to me, freshly made and piping hot. I didn't know Time Lords couldn't live without coffee - or that might just be me. Some things never change, even if your species does.
"Right," I begin, looking at Jack whilst holding my mug to my face, "why's she still here then?"
I take a sip as Jack tells us, "She remembered. Just as it was with you, Evelina, people with strong minds can fight through the Retcon."
Owen makes a pff sound. "So we've got another Evy? God help us."

I dig my bony elbow into his ribcage and he mock yelps as I grin, before Jack continues. "Gwen is our new team member. She's replacing Suzie."
The four of us frown at each other. "Why?" asks Tosh, and Jack tells us about Suzie shooting herself last night whilst on the run from Torchwood.
I slap Owen's arm in shocked realisation when I realise I was right. "I told you I felt her leave! God, I'm always right since I've turned into an alien."
"Ow, okay, okay, stop bullying me," complains Owen, but the freckled woman just stares at me, shocked.
"You're... an alien?"

"I'm a Time Lord, he's from the future, he can stitch up the side of your head in a minute flat, she's a genius, and he makes coffee so good you'll swear you just had an orgasm," I say informatively, pointing to each member of the team respectively. Gwen nods at each one, trying and failing to cover up her bewilderment.

I smile broadly and tell her what Jack told me all those years ago: "Welcome to Torchwood."

~∆~

Since Ianto is now always stationed at the Hub, the five of us drive in the SUV and assume the usual formation into the crash site of a meteor that crash landed last night. Jack tried to get us all out here faster, before police could get into something they wouldn't understand, but we all overslept and didn't hear our phones go off. It's not the first time we'll hear him complain about it, and I doubt it'll be the last.

As I'm only needed for the analysis of what's inside the meteorite, I plant myself in the middle of the throng of first responders that are just kinda waiting around to be told what to do. To be fair, they've cordoned off the park, they've warded off press, what else are they to do?
I begin to ask them questions and a play-by-play of events that transpired here, when a rustle of material is set off followed by a soft Welsh voice.
"No, it's all right, I'm with uh, special ops. I'm with special ops. Torchwood? I'm with Torchwood."

I cringe as she sounds like a lost girl on a field trip, and head on over to the other tent where an officer is saying: "You're not with Torchwood. And even if you were-"
"You'd have put out the welcome banners," I interrupt, coming through the tent flaps and startling the officers to attention. I put a hand to my hip, clutching my notepad and pen in it. "Now, first of all, she's no little girl. From where I'm standing, all the right curves in all the right places. But she is Torchwood, we both are. And we'd appreciate it if you left us to do the real work. Thank you."

I take Gwen's hand and roughly pull her out of the tent, the equipment bag she's holding banging into my hip. I roll my eyes, pick up the bag and place it in her arms, then lead her to the crash site.
"Wait, wait - what do I do?" she asks, looking back at me, and I roll my eyes again. I really hope her naivety wears off soon.
"I don't know, but they'll have you doing something. Now go," I encourage in the nicest possible tone I can muster, and as she runs off I click the pen off and on in frustration.

After a few minutes, I regain composure and resume my work until I hear a loud hiss. We all look over to see a bright pink cloud of gas spiralling away; without a moment's hesitation, I begin to dash after it. Only when I realise I can't outrun it do I bring out a micro-tracker and hurl it onto the cloud for it to ingest. It does, and I have enough time to sink to my knees and take some steadying breaths before heading back to the crash site.

The rest of the team have gas masks pressed over their faces, but when Owen looks back at me I can tell his expression mirrors my impatient one.

~∆~

Back at the Hub, we immediately rush off again when Ianto tells us there's been a weird 999 call. Still irritated at Gwen along with Owen, we keep her at arm's length the whole time.
Listen, I get she's new, but nobody else on their first day got the opportunity to kill us.

When Jack runs off clutching the tracker's holdall, Tosh walks with us. "What do you think of her? She's really sorry," she adds when we both look at her witheringly.
"I tried to be nice - and she could've killed us," I tell her curtly. "Who knows what could've been in there? She was in the police; she should know at least basic protocol."
Owen nods in agreement, and Toshiko shakes her head. "Cut her some slack, guys."
He pretends to think about it for a moment, then says what he really thinks: "No. Not until she does something useful."

~∆~

"Oi, you lot. Treat," Owen calls from his desk where he's got his arms folded behind his head. Me, Tosh, and Jack walk over to him, and our mouths fall open when we clock the computer screen.
"Whoa," Tosh comments as we watch our new coworker ferociously make out with the young woman hosting an alien.
I cross my arms, tutting. "I don't think this is the kind of 'useful' we were talking about her doing."
"Speak for yourself," Owen says with a grin, and I clip him over the head.

We watch in awed silence for a few more moments until Tosh finally speaks.
"We should really get her out of there."
"Yeah," Jack says, not properly grasping the situation, then gripping the back of Owen's seat and racing down to the holding cells. Tosh follows and I turn back to the computer screen, which Owen is recording.
I give him another clip round the ear. "Don't be gross."

The pair come back, closely followed by Gwen, and Owen grins at me. I can't grab ahold of his shirt before he goes over to Gwen and begins to tease her on what just went down. As she pins him against the wall in rage, Jack strolls to lean next to me and I ask, "Shouldn't you stop that?"
"Shouldn't you? You're his girlfriend."
"I'm not his girlfriend, I just sleep with him every so often- Okay, yeah, now would be good," I say just as Gwen bends Owen's neck into the curve of the wall, which looks horribly unnatural, and Jack steps in.

"Strictly speaking, throttling the staff is my job."
I snicker and Gwen lets go of Owen and storms off, leaving Jack and I to shake our heads at Owen. He rubs his neck, scowling. "What?"
"Stop acting like such a twat," I tell him as the three of us start walking to the boardroom to have lunch.

~∆~

The rest of the still early day flies by: you know, the normal stuff, capturing an alien, helping a civilian not shag to death. I barely turn a hair anymore.
What frustrates me is that I couldn't talk to the alien myself, the role being eagerly volunteered by Gwen. If I had time spent with it before we killed it, I would've known more about it and thus more about what we've collected. The council have already incinerated the rest of the meteor, after deeming it safe to burn. Is anything ever safe to burn though?

I sit at the kitchen island as Owen places a steaming mug of coffee in front of me. I don't bother to ask what's in it - he always knows I like mochas in the evening.
"What is it?" he asks me, leaning over the table and making me look at him.
I sigh dejectedly. "I don't know anything about that species more than you do. And I should know. A Time Lord should always know more; we've got an entire library of Alexandria in our minds. It got away from me, all because of Gwen."

I growl in frustration, really not liking this new girl, and my lover takes a sip from his own coffee. "I'm gonna give her a pass for today. She caught the alien, and was clever about it. Who cares if you don't know more than me? It's not coming back."
"But more of its species could," I barter, then backtrack. "Hang on. You forgive her for what she did earlier today? Are you serious?"
Owen shrugs, taking another sip. "Look, what she did at the crash site was stupid. Unbelievably stupid. But she made up for it later on. So yeah, I do forgive her. And I think you should too."

I cross my arms, leaning back. "Don't tell me what to do," I tell him, and he lowers his mug and cocks an eyebrow.
"Oh? But in the bedroom you seem to like it."
I nudge my mug away and lean over the counter, until the tips of our noses are touching. I've been waiting for this.
"Well maybe we should change that. Right now."
His other brow arches up. "Is that a threat. Or a promise?"

Before I pull him into the bedroom and run my nails down his flexing back, I whisper in his ear, "Why don't you find out?"