Daughter of Torchwood

Newbie

Warning contains mentions of sex and mature themes.

Lost in her own thoughts, Starla walked toward Cardiff Bay with a stack of pizza boxes balanced in her arms. She'd promised to feed the team after a long day of helping Ianto inventory the archives, but the Hub had started to feel a bit claustrophobic, and she'd needed the fresh sea air.

Her phone buzzed just as she came into range of the Hub's external CCTV. She balanced the pizzas on one knee to answer, "Is that dinner?" she heard Owen shout in the background before she could even say hello.

"Starla, where are you?" Jack's voice broke through, sounding sharp.

Before she could answer, a low, rhythmic rumbling shook the pavement beneath her boots. She spun around, eyes widening as a brilliant orange fireball tore across the Cardiff sky, trailing thick black smoke, "Dad, are you seeing this?"

"Yeah. Get down here, now. I'm texting Gwen, looks like her first day is starting early."

Starla didn't waste a second. She hit the paving stone for the invisible lift, dumped the pizzas on the coffee table as she descended into the Hub, and immediately started grabbing field kits. Gwen arrived minutes later, looking breathless, and they piled into the SUV.

"Simple locate-and-clean-up operation," Jack explained, his hands firm on the wheel as he tore through the streets, "We need to find that meteorite before the public, or the wrong authorities, get their hands on it. Good to have you with us, Gwen."

Gwen nodded, looking a little overwhelmed as the tracking and surveillance gear automatically whirred out of the dashboard and the backs of the seats. Starla caught her expression and giggled, "Impressive, isn't it? It still does that to me sometimes."

"Basic tracking," Tosh explained, tapping at a screen, "We can tap into CCTV, national databases, even the police network."

"That's the police computer system," Gwen noted, her old habits kicking in, "You shouldn't have access to that."

"I think you need to turn that 'you' into a 'we,' Gwen," Starla reminded her with a supportive smile, "You're one of us now."

"Shit," Owen huffed as they pulled up to the crash site. The military had already beaten them there, setting up floodlights and a perimeter.

As they climbed out, Starla stayed close to her dad, but Gwen realised she'd left a kit box by the SUV and ran back to grab it. By the time they tried to enter the main cordon, a soldier blocked their path.

"Who the hell are you two?" he barked, eyeing Gwen and then looking down at Starla.

"Um..." Gwen stumbled, still finding her Torchwood voice.

"This area is restricted," the soldier snapped.

"Special Ops," Starla informed him, pulling herself up to her full height and channelling her father's authority, "We're Torchwood."

"Don't mess with me, child. Nor you, little girl," the soldier sneered, "Even if you were..."

"You'd have put out the welcome banners," Jack's voice boomed as he strode back to rescue them. He stepped between the soldier and the girls, "First of all, she..." he pointed at Gwen, "...is no little girl. From where I'm standing, she has all the right curves in all the right places. As for the 'child,' she's my daughter. They are both Torchwood. All three of us are. Now, we'd appreciate it if you'd let us do the real work."

He grabbed Starla's hand, leading them through the line, "Let's see what we came for, shall we?" Starla grinned; even after a year, the thrill of a crash site never got old.