Touch The Sky: Doctor Who/Studio C [Book 3]

Returns

Returns

(Original Interlude)

Beneath the streets of Cardiff Bay, the white brick walls of Torchwood Three rose above Matt's head as he followed Jack down a long staircase. "Interesting place you've got here," he said dryly.

"Thanks," Jack answered, instead of a bragging quip like Matt had expected.

"Who's he?" came a startled voice with a thick Welsh accent, and Matt glanced over at a dark-haired woman.

"He's fine, Gwen," Jack assured her. "Matt, this is Gwen Cooper." He gestured back to a man wearing a business-like dress shirt, who rolled his shoulders and gave a cautious wave as he looked up from his laptop. "And Ianto Jones. Gwen, Ianto, meet Matt Meese."

"Oh," Gwen said with a vague gesture. "The...?"

"The dead man walking, yeah," Jack said dryly.

"You say such nice things about me," Matt responded with a sigh. Jack chuckled.

"Well, we're not sticking around long," the captain said. "Just needed a place away from the public eye. For research," he added with a pointed look at the other two Torchwood members. "Carry on."

Ianto waved again and Gwen picked up a mug from one of the tables, taking a long sip. Jack gestured Matt down a hallway, following close behind.

As he pulled out his books, Matt had the sinking feeling it was going to be a long overnight trip.

~~~

"How's your bingo card coming?"

Early on in her second morning in Geneva, Mallory glanced up at Mark, staring at him blankly. "What?"

He chuckled as several other people began to trickle in. The room was almost a cross between a conference room and a classroom, fitting the fifty or so people who had gathered yesterday. "Buzzword bingo. Write up a card with words like 'efficiency' and 'teamwork' and see who fills theirs out first."

"Sign me up, it might just make this whole thing bearable," she said, pushing her chair away from the small desk she sat at and absently brushing a hand over her stomach. "Wouldn't this be easier to do over... you know, a video call or something?"

Mark smacked his hand on the table. "See, that's what I say every year, but they've got to do this whole thing in the name of 'interpersonal relations' or whatever the excuse of the day is."

"So what happens if some aliens get the bright idea to pull something while almost every UNIT consultant on the planet is here in this room?" she asked. "Pray Torchwood handles it?"

He chuckled again. "They've still got UNIT military to deal with," he said. "It's just the civilians that are here."

"Fair enough," Mallory said, drawing her attention forward as someone stepped up the microphone at the front of the room and cleared his throat.

She honestly tried to pay attention to what was being said, but it was rather difficult to do so while simultaneously trying to calm a squirmy baby. In the end, she had no luck doing either, and wished she knew what trick Matt used to get him to settle. Absently, she wondered if perhaps her son was just missing his daddy, and found a dreamy smile tugging on her lips.

She missed him too.

The realization crept up on her, startling her when it appeared full-fledged. She'd only been gone just over twenty-four hours, and she already missed him. It was hard to imagine she'd spent months wanting nothing to do with him; odd to think she'd spent days coming home to an empty apartment instead of him greeting her with a kiss or slinging his arm over her shoulders and showing her that he'd pieced together the crib while she'd been gone.