Daughter of Torchwood

Countryside

So I'm aware that Owen and Gwen had an on-the-side relationship going on during the first series, but for this book, I'm not going to play into that.

Camping was not something Starla ever imagined doing with Torchwood, but the world decided this was how she would spend her October half-term. The entire team was currently travelling down a countryside road in the middle of nowhere in the SUV.

Jack was driving with Owen in the passenger seat, looking very unhappy. Tosh, Gwen, and Ianto were squeezed into the back, while Starla had the pleasure of using the spare boot seat that rarely got used.

Of course, in true Owen fashion, he ruined the drive by complaining, "I hate the countryside. It's dirty, it's unhygienic, and what is that smell?"

"That would be grass," Gwen answered, her voice monotone and portraying the bored feeling the rest of them were sharing.

He turned to look at her, "It's disgusting."

They pulled up on the grass by a mobile burger van. They got their map out, laying it on the bonnet of the SUV while Ianto and Starla went to get food.

"Seventeen disappearances within the last five months. The police are clueless," Jack explained.

"Now there's a surprise. No offence, PC Cooper," Owen laughed, holding his hands up in surrender. Gwen smiled at his teasing.

"The last known whereabouts of each one is somewhere around here," Jack pointed to a spot on the map. Gwen and Tosh inspected the markings with him.

"All within a twenty-mile radius," Tosh observed, "Anything else linking them?"

Jack shook his head, "None of the bodies has ever been found. These people just fell off the radar. No patterns in age, sex, or race. One minute they're here, the next, gone."

"The Rift doesn't spread out this far. Does it?" Gwen queried.

"We don't know that much about it to be certain. And it's increasing in activity all the time."

"Oh, come on," Owen continued complaining, "Aliens aren't gonna bother hanging around out here. Probably some sort of weird suicide club with people choosing the same spot to end it all. God knows, if I had to spend too long up here, I'd want to top myself."

Ianto and Starla brought the food from the van, handing the items out, "Here you go. Careful, they're hot."

"Sure you don't want anything, Tosh?" Starla double-checked, then bit into her burger.

"Really sure. A friend of mine caught hepatitis off a burger from one of these places."

All of them stopped mid-bite. Jack put his down with a sigh. Starla and Owen shrugged and just continued eating. Ianto and Gwen did the same, though more tentatively.

"We'll start with the most recent victim," Jack said, getting back to the job at hand, "Ellie Johnson. We last have a record of her making a phone call. She dropped out of signal mid-call. The coverage map has her placed... somewhere about here." He indicated another spot on the map. "Looks as good a place as any to set up camp."

Owen stopped with his burger halfway to his mouth, "Sorry, did you say camp?"

Jack smirked at his Dad-level trolling of Owen's hatred for the plan.

------

Parked in a cleared grass area, they began the arduous task of setting up. "What's the matter with a hotel?" Owen grumbled, wrestling with a length of nylon.