Archive of Our Own ^beta

2016

Somewhere outside the M4, Wales

Running. Running. Running. That was all that ran through Assam's mind. Had to keep running. Had to get away from it. Whatever 'it' was. It was everywhere. His mother had warned him many times not to stray too far from the camp and the dangers that would accompany such a decision. But to a child it was exciting - this new and foreign land, so much to explore. And one day his curiosity finally got the better of him. His mother's back was turned as she squabbled with one of other the asylum seekers by the small fire they had lit to keep warm. It was an opportunity; one that may never arise again. His eyes flitted back and forth between his mother guiltily, but giving in to temptation he scrambled to his feet and ran off through a clearing in the bushes away from the campsite by the side of a tunnel. He had never known such freedom. Compared to his homeland this was like paradise - the atmosphere was clean and noiseless and the ground didn't explode underfoot; no threats lurked in the trees. The forest really was just a forest. Or so he thought... There was something moving in the shadows. Assam didn't notice at first though. Wearing the innocent grin of any child his age as his feet carried him away between the trees, he raced through the forest, alone and at one with nature. Then a twig snapped and the smiles stopped. What was that noise? Where did it come from? Assam suddenly realised he'd strayed too far. Something was moving between the trees, shrouded in the darkness. Frantically searching for a way out, Assam didn't notice the figure moving closer. And closer. And closer. The gnarled fingers of the trees seemed to curl inwards, reaching menacingly for the small boy. This figure, this entity, whatever it was, was almost upon him. Whatever direction he turned it seemed to be there facing him. Letting out a sharp gasp, Assam stumbled backwards over a protruding tree root, landing with a heavy thud against the forest floor. Brushing the dirt off his hands, he winced at a small but deep cut on his hand. Then suddenly in the ringing silence, he remembered he wasn't alone. His head turned slowly behind him and he looked up... His screams lasted only a moment before they ceased abruptly, accompanied by a sound like a snapping twig, echoing through the surrounding trees.

Cardiff, Wales

Captain Jack Harkness leant against a railing, gazing out over the Welsh coast, as the sun rose over Cardiff Bay, his long flowing trenchcoat flapping wildly in the wind. It was 6 am. A weekday in January. One weekday in one boringly uneventful week full of weekdays. It wasn't that the team hadn't been busy - it was just that their efforts had only been required in rather trivial scenarios compared to the heroics of the Torchwood of old. He sighed, inhaling the fresh scent of the sea breeze as waves crashed against the shore. Cardiff had changed. The whole bloody world had changed. That's what Gwen would say. She'd probably mention it again when she clocked in in a couple of hours time. This was a dangerous new Cardiff and Torchwood had to rise to the task of protecting the city from whatever new threats it might face.

Jake Winterman approached him from behind, leaning his back against the railing to the right of Jack, facing back the way he'd come and handing him a cup emblazoned with the Costa logo.

"Bloody hell, it's freezing! How long have you been out here?"

"Got any news for me?" Jack asked, ignoring the question.

'More tremors. They're slowly growing stronger too.' Jake replied, placing his coffee down momentarily and tapping quickly on his phone screen trying to pull up the latest readings. 'Not noticeable yet, but, mind you, not far off.'

'Was thinking more about you personally, seeing how it is six in the morning, but I suppose good work nevertheless. Keep an eye on that for me. But Jake, have you slept? Did you even go home last night? You were still there when I went out just before midnight... Ya know, I knew another person who worked late like you. Turned out to be a serial killer.' Jack remarked lowering Jake's phone, causing him to look up slightly to meet his gaze.

'Wait, you've been here for six hours?!' Jake exclaimed, snapping out of his momentary daze.

'Nah, I've only been here about an hour or so. It's so peaceful here, don't ya think? Just watching the waves crash and fade away, watching the world go by.' Jack said, his voice sounding absent as if his thoughts were somewhere else as he stared out contemplatively at the rising sun.

'What's on your mind, Jack?' Jake said as he hunched over, hands tightly wrapped around his coffee cup as he took another sip of the steaming beverage.

'What makes you think there's something wrong?'

'I never said that. You just told me there is.'

'Ha. Smart.' Jack chuckled.

'That's why you employed me.' Jake smiled back. 'So, what's up?'

'I guess I'm just getting old and sentimental.'

'How d'you mean?'

'Jake, I'm immortal. I could shoot myself in the head right now. I could blow myself to smithereens. But I'll come back. I'll always come back. While I have to watch everyone I've ever loved grow old and die...'

Jake looked at Jack, understandingly, as understanding as a mortal could be concerning immortal problems -  unknowing as to what he should say next.

'I had a grandson. Steven.'

'What?'

'Yeah, you heard me. The great Jack Harkness has a family. Had a family...'

'Past tense?' Jake asked sadly.

'2010, the 456. When all the children were under their control and the government were prepared to give them up. The undesirables. The bad kids. The refugees, the orphans, the homeless. We needed a child. My grandson... I...' Jack choked back tears. 'I killed him. I had to. There was no other way. They would've-'

'It's okay you don't have to justify yourself to me.' Jake said placing a hand on his back.

A moment or two passed between them as they looked right into each other's eyes, staring right through them.

'I'm not sure it's you I'm trying to justify it to... ' Jack said. 'I'm worried for you, Jake. All of you. Gwen... Jordan... Steph... Even Colchester. Torchwood isn't safe anymore. It never was, but it's grown worse over these past few years. New aliens, new threats, new technologies. I can't promise I'll always be able to protect you - keep you alive.'

'Jack, we know the risks. None of us would be here if we weren't willing to. We're here to protect the planet, whatever the cost. That's what Torchwood does. That what it always has done and what it always must do. Besides, we both know where I'd be if I weren't here... So look, I know you're the boss an' all, but it's not all your responsibility. It shouldn't all rest on your shoulders alone. Okay?'

Jack nodded with a smile.

'Good. Now come on let's get inside, it's fucking freezing out here!' Jake said, rubbing his fingerless gloves together and pulling his jacket tightly against him as he marched inside, with Jack following closely behind.

A cold gust of wind followed the two into the Torchwood hub as the large door rolled shut behind them. 

'Mornin'.' Gwen called out from over by the coffee machine, the printer and the potted plants - Steph's idea to make the place look more homely seeing as they hadn't yet gotten around to rebuilding the greenhouse after the whole base was blown up during the 456 incursion of 2009.

'Argh! Bloody machine!' Gwen cursed angrily under her breath as she shook it violently. 'The bastard machine's broke again!' She called to Jack. 'I'm gonna nip to the coffee shop, back in ten!'

Moments after Gwen left, Jordan and Steph walked in, engrossed in idle conversation. 'Morning!' Steph beamed to everyone as she walked in.

She went and sat down at her desk by the printer and began furiously typing away at her keyboard.

Whereas Jordan casually approached his desk opposite Jake, slinging his satchel down and leaning back in his chair. 'Someone looks tired,' he remarked to his colleague as the blue light glaring off his computer screen highlighted the dark circles around his eyes.

'How long d'you stay last night?'

'All night...' Jake confessed sheepishly.

'All ni- Jake, again?! You need sleep mate! Who are you tryna impress?!' Jordan exclaimed.

Jake looked around awkwardly, refusing to meet Jordan's eyes as a smirk spread across Jordan's face.

'Oh! Oh my god. Jack?! It's Jack, isn't it? I knew there was something going on between you two! Go on then, how long have you been shagging the boss?' Jordan grinned.

'No. We're not- It's- It's nothing like that...'

'Mate, if you wanted to screw the boss I think you'd probably just have to ask him... Besides he's looking at you right now...' Jordan smirked, glancing over Jake's shoulder before quickly ducking behind his computer screens as Jake turned around with a discomposed expression. His eyes met Jack's as he looked up from the printer and Jack sent him a discreet wink as he walked back towards his office. Jake returned with a flustered smile and spun back around, utterly mortified. Jordan sniggered, refusing to meet his gaze.

'Stop it! It's nothing like that. Just because I care about my job. No, you know what if you cared about this job even half as much as I did then you'd- y- Oh, fuck off!' Jake brushed him off, sinking his gaze into the blue glare of his computer monitors as he typed away agitatedly.

'Someone's tired and grumpy. And, just saying those dark rings 'round your eyes aren't doing you any favours... unless you're auditioning for The Walking Dead.'

'God! Can you not be serious for ten minutes! Ten. Fucking. Minutes! Could you try to show more depth than just hired muscle just once?!' Jake hissed, not breaking eye contact with his screen apart from to glance down at his keyboard. Jordan recoiled taken aback and decided to leave it be, glancing apologetically over at Jake who took no notice. 

'My, my, I never thought I'd see the day that everyone else managed to beat me in.' Mr Colchester said with an air of sarcasm as he strolled in, plonking his briefcase down at his desk. 'Or do I stand corrected? No, Mrs Williams yet?'

'Still Gwen Cooper, thanks very much. And I actually arrived twenty minutes ago, Mr Colchester, except  I had to make a trip to Costa's 'cause that bloody coffee machine of yours broke again. What was all that about high efficiency?' Gwen remarked as she breezed past him, giving him a great waft of the steam that was emanating off of her warm beverage.

'Bugger. Guess I'll be off again. There's no way I'm getting through the tedium of all this paperwork without a shot of caffeine.' Mr Colchester turned on his heel and headed out the entrance, muttering to himself, 'That's the last time I order something online...'

Gwen leant back in her chair savouring the last blissful couple of sips of her coffee, sighing with satisfaction when Jack poked his head out of his office and beckoned her inside.

'Whatcha got for me?' Gwen asked, intently, turning her gaze to one of Jack's computer screens reading the title of the dossier on display. 'Charlie Q----. Who's he then?'

'Friend of the Doctor's. Highly recommended. Sent me an email with all the information from the UNIT database about him.'

'Ha, they're not gonna like that. Although I s'pose he is technically president of the world. Anyway, why's he sent it to you? What's this kid got to do with all this?'

'That kid as you put it, is older than you are. And the Doctor thinks we should recruit him. Said we could 'do with a Charlie on the team.' Something like that.'

'He doesn't look that old.'

'He's 118, a Time Lord like the Doctor.'

'Oh god, that's weird. He only looks about ten years older than Anwen but he's old enough to be my great granddad.' Gwen shivered at the thought.

'Well? What do you think, then?'

'I mean I don't see why not,' Gwen replied. 'So, when d'you want me to go see him?'

'Actually, I think I'll do it this time. Something tells me he'll be more receptive towards me.' Jack smirked.

'Ah, I get it. Won over by an immortal with a pretty face, huh?'

'Nah, I'm just hoping he'll be won over by a real immortal with an even prettier face than his co-leader.'

'You bastard!' Gwen said playfully thwacking Jack's arm. 'When you gonna go see him?'

'He's starting a new job today over at City Hall. I'll try and catch him on his lunch break or something.'

'Yeah... Good luck with that. Let me know when you need my help yeah?' Gwen grinned as she strolled out. 'Watch out, Charlie Q----!'

Jack gave a small chuckle and turned back to glance over the UNIT dossier once more.

Newport, Wales

Charlie groaned groggily as his alarm went off for the fourth time in an hour. As he fumbled around for his phone and prepared to hit the snooze button his adoptive mum Siobhan called up 'Charlie, that bloody alarm has been going off since six! Turn it off and get your arse out of bed before you're late for your first day!'

Charlie rolled his eyes and curled his fingers in annoyance. Tapping 'Dismiss', he dragged himself out of bed, his eyes heavy, his hair a mess and his expression the epitome of discontent.

'Whyyyy? Why do I have a job?' He complained to himself as he threw on his dressing gown and left his room to start getting ready for work.

About half an hour later, Charlie rushed into the kitchen where Siobhan was washing up and his adoptive brother Freddie was eating at the breakfast counter. 'You look weird.'

'Ha. If that's the best you've got they're gonna eat you alive at school.' Charlie retorted ruffling Freddie's curly blonde hair.

'That's enough, you two. You look very smart. Now you'd better go. Don't want to be late.' Siobhan said, smoothing out the creases of his dark grey blazer. 

Glancing at his watch and making an alarmed expression, Charlie grabbed a slice of toast off the counter, swung his satchel over his shoulder and stepped out of the house, sticking in an earphone in and hitting shuffle. 'See ya!' He called over his shoulder as 'All I Really Know' by Iris Gold began to play.

He clambered into his Ford Fiesta and dumped his possessions in the passenger seat, turning the keys in the ignition. 

Cardiff High Street, Wales

The journey into Cardiff was smooth but it didn't take long to hit traffic as he grew closer to the town centre. The car was now barely moving and Charlie stared out at all the pedestrians on the bustling Cardiff street. So many people. So many stories. And so many pained expressions on that bleak Monday morning. Except for one. A rather attractive man of slightly under average height with curly dark hair and a beard in a brown leather jacket. For a moment their eyes seemed to meet Charlie's and everything around them seemed to stop... They stared at one another with an intense curiosity and then suddenly beeping cars from behind tore them both away from their gaze. And with that Charlie moved away before the lights turned red again. Jordan looked back over his shoulder, unknowing that they would meet again very soon.

Eventually making it to work, the time was 08:01. Parking up in the last available space in the car park outside City Hall, Charlie got out of his car and glanced at his watch. 'Only a minute late.' He said to himself as he strolled into the lobby and approached the front desk.

'Hi, I'm-'

'Charlie Q----. Yes, I know. Your boss has been ringing down constantly for the last half hour,' the receptionist interrupted.

'What? I'm basically on time!'

'Don't ask me. Third floor. Head straight up.' the receptionist sighed impatiently gesturing halfheartedly towards the lift.

Upon reaching the third floor, Charlie stepped out into a large open office - a typical dusty drab office with an atmosphere of gloom to match. Everyone else appeared to be in their forties or older and didn't even bother to look up as he walked in. As Charlie was about to announce his presence, a stern man with deep wrinkles and reddish skin stormed out of his private office at the back. 

'Hi, so-'

'You're late!' Charlie's boss, Griffith Llewellyn towered over him by a good few inches.

'It's five past eight...'

'You work for me! You will arrive on time!' He snapped pointing a thin gnarled finger towards Charlie. A young guy of a similar height and build to Charlie stuck his head out of the closed-off kitchen area next to Llewellyn's office upon hearing the commotion. No one seemed to notice him as he quickly dived back inside.

'Excuse me?! I don't know who you think you're talking to but I did not come here to be spoken to like shit! You know what? You can shove this job right up your arse!' 

...is what Charlie wanted to say.

He tilted his head to one side and cocked an eyebrow but instead of that impulsive response he forced out an apology and promised it wouldn't happen again through gritted teeth, at which point Llewellyn left him to find his empty desk, which was conveniently right in front of his office. Great. 

Charlie sighed heavily, raking a hand through his wavy brown locks and leant back in his swivel chair with a loud creak. Noticing a post-it note with login details, Charlie signed into his PC to find a flurry of emails from Llewellyn. He shot daggers at his office, not that he was looking, and began to work through them when someone else approached his desk. The guy from the kitchen. By Charlie's estimates, he was in his early twenties, with light brown hair and square-rimmed glasses and wore a denim jacket over a button-up shirt with ripped skinny jeans and a pair of white Converse trainers.

Placing a hot cup of tea down in front of Charlie, he said, 'So I see you've met the boss. That was ...rough. Thought you could use a friendly face.'

'Was it that obvious?' Charlie laughed, smiling back. 'Nice to see I'm not the only youngish looking person here. And you're a Londoner too! A Londoner who brings me tea. A man after my own heart!' The guy chuckled. 'I'm Charlie, by the way. Charlie Q----.'

'Ollie. Ollie Woods. Yeah, I took the liberty of putting milk in. But wasn't sure whether or not to add sugar,' the guy replied.

'Oh, I'm lactose intolerant...'

'Oh! I am so sorry! Um, I'll go make you another one...'

'Nah don't worry I'm just messing with you,' Charlie grinned. 'Sorry I have a terrible sense of humour. I will take you up on one of those sugar sachets though.'

Ollie handed him a couple of sugar sachets, saying, 'There ya go. I'll let you get back to work. Oh, and if you need anything else, just let me know - I'm basically here for coffee and food runs, to be honest. I'm not trusted with much of the paperwork 'round here. Llewellyn owed my uncle a favour or something and landed me a job here. Still a decent wage though. And yes, he is an ass to e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e! So don't sweat it, we're all in this boat with you. I'm just counting down the days till I get frown lines like the rest of this miserable bunch. Sorry, I'm rambling, I'll go! Oh and one word of advice, that's Brenda over there. Don't tell her anything you wouldn't want to be on national news - she's a talker. Catch you later, Charlie Q----.' Ollie winked as he strolled back to his desk. Charlie smiled as he took a long sip of his tea. Perhaps this job wouldn't be so bad after all.

Torchwood Hub, Cardiff Bay, Wales

Steph typed furiously away at her keyboard whilst when Gwen idly scrolled through news articles, searching for something, anything that might be of interest to them, when Jordan strolled over and slapped a copy of the local newspaper down on the desk between them.

'You seen this? That's the fourth kid gone missing in the Cardiff area.' Jordan said.

'Oh god that's awful!' Steph replied as she traced over the first few lines with her index finger.

'God, this kid's only a couple years older than Anwen.' Gwen added sadly.

'Yes. A tragedy. But I'm sure you all have much more important work to be getting on with.' Colchester replied, suddenly appearing behind them.

'Do you really not care at all?' Gwen spat in distaste.

'Of course, I do. My husband and I babysit my niece frequently. However, I do not see the relevance to our work. It is no concern of Torchwood.'

'But we could help! Lend our resources!' Steph protested.

'I hardly think that's within our jurisdiction.'

'I'll decide that.' Jack said as he hurried past throwing his coat on and heading for the exit.

'Uh, sorry who's in charge? And where are you going?' Gwen asked, spinning around in her chair to face him.

'Out. Gotta meet a guy.' Jack grinned confidently as he spun on his heel taking a couple of steps backwards before turning forwards again as he left. Colchester humphed and wandered back to his desk muttering something under his breath.

The huddle at Gwen and Steph's desk dispersed moments after and Gwen's eyes strayed from the pages on her monitor back to the newspaper headline. It read:

Cardiff City Hall, Wales

'Refugee child becomes fourth to go missing in Cardiff area.' Charlie read aloud from the newspaper that Ollie had brought over to show him.

'It's awful isn't it?' Ollie said as he leaned over Charlie's shoulder. Charlie murmured in agreement. 'Have you got kids? Wait, no! Sorry! I didn't mean it like- Oh my god!'

'Wow, how old do I look?!' Charlie laughed. 'I suppose it wouldn't be uncommon to have kids at my age...'

'Wait, how old are you really then?'

'Um... twenty?' Charlie said with uncertainty. 'Went to a rough school though, lot of teen pregnancies and other scandals.' Well that was a blatant lie. Mustn't make a habit of that. Could get complicated...

'Ah right. Thought that was the part where you tell me you're actually thirty-five, twice divorced with grandkids!'

'Yeahhh, not quite. I mean I've got a little brother. Freddie. He's eleven. He's a little shit most of the time but ya know, he's still my brother. Not biologically, we're both adopted. But anyway that's not the point. I still can't imagine what these people are going through...'

'You're adopted?'

'Yeah I never knew my real parents; they died in a war when I was a baby.'

'I'm so sorry. I had no idea.' Ollie said placing a reassuring hand on Charlie's shoulder.

'Hey, it's fine. Don't worry about me. I'm always alright.'

'Yeah...' Ollie replied, somewhat unconvinced. 'Wait, so where are you from?'

'That's a story for another time,' Charlie said abruptly. 'I'm starving, do you wanna go grab some lunch together?'

'A dinner date. Bold move for your first day.'

'Oh shut up. So I take it that's a yes?'

'Um, I'll probably have to do a coffee run in a minute... but you're welcome to join me? And we could probably stop for a quick sandwich or a muffin or something?'

'It's a date! Just let me finish this email and I'll be right with you.'

'Just gonna grab my jacket.' Ollie said as he approached his desk.

Captain Jack Harkness stood in an alleyway watching as the two emerged. As he was about to follow after them, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. Gwen's name flashed onto the screen as he answered the call.

'Hiya, you alright? You just sort of left in a hurry.'

'Yeah, just checking out the new recruit.' Jack replied ambiguously.

'Did you go to his work? Oh my god, stalker much! Wait, hang on, checking out or 'checking out'?' Gwen asked suggestively. Jake glanced over his shoulder as he eavesdropped on Gwen's responses.

'I'll let you decide that for yourself,' Jack chuckled.

'You dirty bastard!' Gwen laughed. 'Let me know how it goes yeah? You know when you realise he's not into you, and you need me to come play the responsible employer. Anyway, Andy called, he wants a hand with this missing persons case after all, so up yours! He's got a lead but for some reason he thinks we'll be interested so Jordan, Steph and I are gonna go check it out.'

'We'll see about that, Cooper! I gotta go, he's on the move. Catch you later, Gwen!' Jack hung up, stuck his phone in his pocket and walked off after Charlie and Ollie.

'Hey, do you, maybe, wanna grab a coffee and take a walk through the park? There's one not far from here... And we can pick the order up on the way back.' Ollie suggested, a little shyly.

Charlie smiled warmly back, 'Yeah. Sure, that'd be nice.'

Ten minutes or so later, drinks in hand, the two of them strolled leisurely through the quiet park. For a few minutes they ambled along the footpath in silence, simply enjoying each other's company. Finally breaking the silence, Ollie asked, 'So how's the first day going?'

'Oh you know, the usual, workload's heavy and the co-workers are boring, and there's this one guy who's really annoying. He just won't leave me alone, constantly dragging me to parks and coffee shops...'

'Ha. Ha ha ha. You're a funny one you know that?' Ollie remarked sarcastically, a smirk spreading across his face. 'And actually you invited me to lunch.'

'Well, I do my best.' Charlie replied, dipping into a low bow. 'Nah but seriously, thanks for this. Definitely the highlight of my day. And you're a welcome distraction from the rest of those horrors back at the office.'

'Speaking of, we'd better go get their orders in in a sec, before we're single-handedly responsible for starting the zombie apocalypse.' Ollie said, gesturing back towards the route they'd followed, oblivious to the fact that a man wearing a grey trenchcoat was watching them both.

Cardiff Coroner & Medical Examiner's Office, Wales

Gwen flashed her ID at the guard on the door as she, Jordan and Steph strolled up to Andy who was waiting anxiously for them outside.

'Now before you go in there, I should warn you, the one in charge of this case is-' Andy was cut off as DI Kathy Swanson strutted through the doors to meet them.

'Oh! Oh that's fucking brilliant, that is!' Gwen laughed irritatedly.

'I don't like it any more than you do believe me but we have a child killer to catch who could be responsible for multiple abductions so do you think we could all try to be professional and get this dangerous criminal off our streets?' Swanson glared authoritatively before disappearing back behind the doors to the medical examiner's lab.

Gwen looked taken aback before mock saluting and adopting a sarcastic expression. 'Which fucker put her on this case then?' she said, dropping to a hushed tone.

Andy shrugged his shoulders. 'Right then, let's get suited up and get this over with,' Gwen said turning to Jordan and Steph.

Wearing full forensic suits, the three entered the room alongside Andy where Swanson and the medical examiner were already waiting for them, stood behind the lifeless body of the missing refugee child. Steph gasped as she laid eyes on the lifeless corpse of the child, holding onto Jordan for support, taking him by surprise.

'Said you should've stayed back at the Hub.' Jordan said to her awkwardly patting her shoulder.

'Sorry,' Steph said, regaining her composure and collecting herself.

'It's a perfectly normal reaction, if you're not used to these surroundings, don't worry,' the medical examiner assured her.

'Right so what are we here for?' Gwen asked impatiently, surveying the body. The boys neck was snapped, that much was clear. There was substantial bruising to the body too.

'So, as you may have gathered, the cause of death is believed to have been the broken neck. There's also bruising around that area and on the arms, perhaps indications of a struggle, and a sprained ankle, suggesting that Assam may have been able to escape from his assailant and developed the injury in running away.'

'Again, what do you want us for?'

'We have no motive, no suspects and no evidence linking Assam or any of the other missing children.'

'What?!' Gwen laughed in disbelief. 'So straight away you've come to us? Bloody hell, we would never have given up so easily when I was still on the force.'

'With respect, Agent Cooper-' Swanson began.

'Gwen's fine, I'm not bloody James Bond! He could never pull off high speed chases in heels...'

'With respect, Gwen, this could mean these attacks are all random, and that leaves us with two possible scenarios, our suspect is anyone living within the next 50 or so square miles, or it is something more within your jurisdiction; if you get my meaning. Meanwhile there's a child killer out there and we need to pool our resources to catch them. You have a duaghter don't you?'

'Yeah, Anwen. And she's none of your business. But fine we'll help. But we do this our way.'

'Meaning what, exactly?' Swanson snapped.

'Um, I'd like to run some further tests with our hardware back at the Hub.'

'What you expect me to just sign the body of our victim over to Torchwood, no questions asked?!'

'Yes.' Gwen said, eyes narrowing, arms folded.

Cardiff High Street, Wales

After finishing their coffees, Charlie and Ollie went back to the cafe round the corner from their work. A few people queued in front of them but it didn't take long to get served. As they waited a thick silence seemed to hang in the air; no one else was queuing and besides  the barista, there were only a couple of other people in the cafe sat at the tables when suddenly the lights went out. As the room went dark, Charlie and Ollie turned to see the rest of the street's lights go out. A deep low rumble began to fill the air and the silence of the cafe was broken by the light clattering of a teacup on a saucer as it started to vibrate, spilling a little tea over its edges. Charlie's brow furrowed. This was familiar. There was a sense of danger in the air. Like when he travelled with the Doctor. Something wasn't right. Something was seriously, seriously wrong. No. Not his problem. Nothing he could do. He promised the Doctor he wouldn't go investigating on his own. Not after Clara. But this could be important... No! He had a job to go to and his family would expect him home... 

As the tremors stopped the lights flickered back on and the barista hurriedly handed them a bag of food and a holder with four cups and then disappeared out the back. 

'Okay we'd better, um, get back.' Ollie said nervously. 

'Uh, yeah. Yeah...' 

A bitter chill engulfed them as they stepped out onto the almost deserted pavement. Meanwhile, outside, Jack was monitoring readings, oblivious as the two departed when Jake called him.

'What the bloody hell was that?' Jake asked.

'You felt it too?' Jack replied. 'No signs of rift activity...'

'Then what was it?! Can you come back? Where are you?' Jake said, slightly panicked.

'I... um... I'm outside a coffee shop.'

'What are you doing at a coffee shop? You've been gone for like half an hour!'

'Jack's at a coffee shop? Cappuccino for me thanks!' Jordan called.

'Hey, Jake, I'll explain it all to you later, I promise. Do you want anything?'

'Um, yeah. Yeah, a latte please.'

'No problem, I'll be back soon. Don't wait up!' Jack grinned to himself.

Jake rolled his eyes, failing to suppress a smile. 'Oh shut up! I'll see you in a bit.'

'You realise you're blushing right now, right?' Jordan chuckled.

'Still mad at you.' Jake said, not breaking eye contact with his computer screen, smirking slightly though. Jordan stifled a grin as he looked down at his paperwork.

Cardiff City Hall, Wales

The rest of the afternoon passed by tediously but eventually the hour hand struck 5 and Charlie began to pack up for the day when the woman Ollie had warned him about approached him. She walked with a limp and had short dyed brown hair.

'You're that new boy aren't you?' Brenda said through a heavy Welsh accent.

'Yeah, I'm Charlie. Hi.'

'Oh! You're English.' Brenda remarked.

'Among other things...'

'I see you and Ollie over there have hit it off... I know a lot of people round here are still a bit old fashioned but I think the two of you would make a handsome pair.'

'Oh, I don't know about that...'

'Of course you do! You're just feeling shy! Now I couldn't help but overhear you're hitting the town 

'Hey, Ollie, I'm going out for a drink with a couple of mates tonight at that new nightclub in town if you fancy tagging along. You know, if you want...'

'Um, I really enjoyed spending time with you but... it's not really my kind of scene. Plus I'm only just starting to get to know you. I'd rather spend more one-on-one time with you first, if you know what I mean.'

'Oh.' Charlie failed to hide his disappointment. 'Oh, no that's okay. It's up to you. Maybe next time.'

'Sure. But, I won't let you go without giving you my number,' Ollie said as he scrawled some digits on a sticky note. 'Call me. Whenever you need me. Actually no, text preferably. Not a huge fan of too much social interaction. I get awkward around most people. Well, I don't mind 'cause it's you but- And I'm rambling again so I should just stop talking...'

Yeah, okay let me just give you mine, as well in case I manage to lose it! Or you know, in case you need to get hold of me first,' Charlie replied, writing out his number on Ollie's wrist. 'Thanks though, for everything today.'

'Any time. And I mean that.'

'Catch you later, Ollie Woods.' Charlie said as he walked out of the office. Ollie smiled awkwardly and waved him off before letting out a heavy sigh, raking a hand through his fawny hair.

'What the hell was that?' He said frustratedly to himself.

Fusion Nightclub, Cardiff, Wales

Hours fleeted by quickly after Charlie left work and it was eventually time to head out. After a short while queuing, Charlie eventually made his way in and weaved his way through the intoxicated clubbers. Finding a place up at the bar, he pulled his phone out to a barrage of messages from the few friends in the area that he'd invited out, all sending their 'deepest apologies' that they would no longer be able to attend because 'something came up' or whatever. Typical. Fucking typical. So now he was a sad guy sat by himself in one of Cardiff's hottest nightclub with no friends.

Multiple drinks later, Charlie was a little tipsy and prepared to call it a night, when he noticed a guy with dark hair and a military coat seemed to have taken an interest him. He cast a couple of side-eye glances to confirm his suspicions and then proceeded to pull a box of cigarettes from his pocket. He wasn't in the mood for attention, rare as it was. Not today, Satan. Waiting for the bartender to disappear out back - it was getting late now and the club wasn't as busy as before - Charlie stole the moment to light the cigarette and took in some smoke, rolling his eyes as the guy continued to watch intently.

'You know, you really shouldn't smoke...' the guy said at last, in a smooth American accent.

'I only do it when I need to repel American guys in weird cosplay,' Charlie retorted. 'What, you some kinda army sycophant?'

'Heh, big words for a drunk guy.'

'As you lot would say, I can handle my liquor. But seriously what's with the whole World War II getup?'

'Why? Is it not workin' for you?'

'Well...'

'Captain Jack Harkness,' the guy introduced himself, holding out his hand for Charlie to shake. 'You mighta heard of me?'

Charlie looked at Jack's hand skeptically, taking another sip of his cocktail, 'Hmm nah. Should I have?'

'Not even, maybe, through... a friend? Or a doctor?'

'What the fuck are you on about? Who are you?' Charlie said, weirded out.

'I told you. Captain Jack Harkness.'

Leaning in conspiratorially, Charlie asked, 'And who is Captain Jack Harkness?' 

'Wouldn't you like to know.' Jack winked.

'Look I get really impatient after a couple of drinks and I have had more than a couple so you might wanna start talking.' Charlie narrowed his eyes leaning back in his chair and crossing one leg over the other.

'So I run a team, well, more like an organisation, well, we are an organisation and we could really use someone like you on our team.'

'What sort of organisation?'

'We're trying to help people, the world...'

'Oh! Oh my! Oh my god! Is this alcoholics anonymous?! Who put you up to this?! Was it David? It was David wasn't it?! I swear I'm gonna kill him! I do not have a drinking problem!'

'Woah, hey, I don't know who the hell that is. And I'm not from alcoholics anonymous. Your UNIT file never mentioned a drinking problem...'

'That's because there isn't onnnne.' Charlie groaned, irritatedly. 'What do you want from meee?!'

'How about I buy you another drink?'

'Ahhh, my guyyy. Now we're getting somewhere.'

Jack signalled to the bartender and shortly two more cocktails materialised next to him and Charlie.

'So, now maybe we can talk?'

'Go on then Captain, it's not like I can stop you talking...'

'Well I can think of a couple of ways you could shut me up...'

'Hmm, I don't think so. I'm not drunk enough to forget you spending 10 minutes staring at me before speaking to me.'

'Worth a shot!' Jack laughed.

'Get to the point.'

'I'm offering you a job.'

Charlie downed his drink in one, slamming the glass down on the counter. 'I've got a job thanks. So if that's it, I'll be off now. Ta-tah!' He said airily as he slid off the bar stool and stumbled out of the club and straight into a cab; and in seemingly no time at all he was home again. Siobhan and Freddie were already asleep as he made his way upstairs and promptly passed out on his bed.

Newport, Wales

Hours later he was awoken by the loud piercing tone of his phone ringing. His eyes fluttered open reluctantly with a pained expression on his face. Charlie picked up his phone; David was calling.

'Ughhh. Hello?'

'Have you looked outside?'

'What? What are you on about? Why are you ringing me now its pitch black. What time even is it? Hang on, did you try and send me to alcoholics anonymous?!'

Newport, Wales

The door swung open. A man in a long grey trenchcoat turned around to face Siobhan.

'I'm looking for Charlie Q----?' said Captain Jack Harkness.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Charlie glanced back over his shoulder at the way Siobhan had gone to the front door, which was just out of sight, before glancing back to the TV re-reading the headlines. As the newsreader began to confirm similar reports coming in from neighbouring countries across western Europe, Charlie hung up his phone which he'd left on and slipped it into his pocket, marching agitatedly to the door.

'He's from work just give us a few minutes.' Charlie replied imperatively, providing no further elaboration. Siobhan rolled her eyes, skulking off back to the front room.

Pulling the door shut and folding his arms, adopting a stern expression, Charlie said airily, 'You're the guy from the club last night. You know there is such a thing as too keen... Should I be concerned, Captain Jack Harkness?'

'You remember me?' Jack replied, almost amused.

'I have a hangover not amnesia. Did you follow me or what? Or are you just a really unorthodox full time stalker?' Charlie rebutted.

'I'm here with a job offer.'

'I've got a job. Now get off my property before I phone the police.' Charlie said turning back towards the door.

'But you don't really want to be a civil servant do you? This job isn't anything like that. The Doctor said you could be a great asset to our team.'

Charlie paused.'So you have been stalking me! Now, how do you know the Doctor?'

'I was a Time Agent stuck in London during the Blitz, the Doctor saved my life and we travelled together for a while. Then he left me behind and I eventually made my way back here working for the Torchwood Institute, hoping and waiting to see the Doctor again.'

Hmm. Torchwood. The name rung a bell. 'I'm listening.' Charlie stated. 'Tell me about Torchwood.'

'We're a special operations organisation established to protect the British Empire from extraterrestial threats.'

'Ahh! I know you! You're the ones who tried to take the Doctor prisoner and then unleashed an army of Cybermen and Daleks on the world simultaneously. Nice job! Wow, I must say the Doctor really does know how to pick them...'

'Torchwood One perished in the Battle of Canary Wharf. When I became head of Torchwood Three in Cardiff I reformed it, in the Doctor's name. We don't kill aliens when we don't have to. We do what we can. And we do what we must. To protect the whole future of mankind. And we don't follow protocols lile UNIT do. The Doctor mentioned you have a thing for bending the rules...'

Charlie sighed. 'Something's happened hasn't it?'

'We need your help. This isn't just a rare eclipse like they're suggesting on the TV. This is on a much grander scale; we could be looking at a global phenomenon on our hands! This planet is under threat and we need our best on the job. So, you in?'

Charlie pondered the question for a moment before agreeing to give them whatever insight he could into what was going on. Returning inside momentarily to grab the sonic screwdriver that the Doctor had gifted him - something told him he might be needing it now - and pull his leather jacket on, Charlie explained flippantly that he was going out and soon followed Jack back through the darkness to a black SUV - well he assumed it was black; it was hard to tell under the orangey hue of the street lights - and in seemingly no time at all, they found themselves stepping into the Torchwood Hub as the larger door at the entrance rolled back with a loud whirr to grant them passage.

Torchwood Hub, Cardiff Bay, Wales

What Charlie saw before him was a vast expanse of concrete platforms connected by a mixture of bare concrete steps and metal grills and bright floodlights reflecting off of the metallic surface of the water tower running down from above the surface right to the heart of the hub. The Torchwood Hub was an impressive sight, at least it used to be before it got blown up. Now it was just a hollow shell of what it used to be.

'Wow! This is-' Charlie was cut off by the loud ringing of his phone. It was Ollie. Steph and Jake looked up from their desks at the surprising interruption.

'Sorry I'd better take this. Two secs. 'Hey you...' 

'Uh where the hell are you?! Work started 3 hours ago!' Ollie whispered angrily down the phone.

'Shit!' Charlie had forgotten he had a job. Oops... 'Something's come up; sorry I forgot all about it, it's been really hectic.'

'Llewellyn's going mental on the phone in his office. And, for the record, so am I along with everyone else over this whole blackout thing! But don't worry I covered for you, nearly had my head bitten off but I said you had a family emergency. I won't make a habit of this though so don't do this again. And by the way you owe me big time!'

'I know I'm really sorry. Look once we've sorted all this how about I take you for drink, yeah?'

'Really? That's how you're gonna ask me out?'

'What?!'

'Learn to read a mood!'

'Ollie, I-' The phone cut off. 'Wow. He hung up on me!' Charlie muttered to himself rolling his eyes.

'Everything alright?' Jack asked.

'Yeah, I'll deal with him later.' Charlie rolled his eyes.

'Ho ho! Sounds like someone's in trouble!'

'You can make jokes like that when we're friends. And for the record he's done nothing wrong. He deserves better than me...' Charlie sighed guiltily and tiredly,raking a hand through his hair and rubbing his eyes with the palms of his hands.

Suddenly a woman in a fitted leather jacket came around the corner carrying a small stack of papers followed by a skinny guy with glasses, oblivious to Jack and Charlie stood in the doorway.

'Gwen! Come meet the new guy!' Jack called catching both of them off guard. Gwen said something to the skinny guy handing him, the papers in her hands and walking over smoothing down her jacket. 

'Oh, and Jake would ya do me a favour and get everyone into the conference room?' Jack called to the skinny guy.

Jake nodded. 'What would I do without ya?' Jack grinned with a wink as Jake moved quickly to hide his blushing expression.

'Gwen Cooper. You must be Charlie. Nice to meet you,' the woman said in a strong Welsh accent, holding her hand out.

'Likewise,' Charlie said, mustering a smile and shaking her hand firmly. 'If only circumstances were a little less cataclysmic...'

'Ah yes! Good point! Come on let's get to the conference rooms!'

Once everyone had taken their seats around the conference table, Jack began, 'Okay, guys, first things first, this is Charlie. He's joining the team and he's gonna be helping us work out what's really going on here. You've already been introduced to myself and Gwen, and Charlie, this is Jake...' 

Charlie's eyes followed Jack's gaze across the table to the skinny guy from earlier. Jake smiled awkwardly, if not slightly suspiciously back at him.

'...Steph...'

A young blonde woman with large glasses waved and greeted him cheerfully with a slight look of confusion at this newcomer in her eyes.

'...Mr Colchester...'

An older man, presumably somewhere in his 50s gave him a curt respectful nod.

...and Jordan.'

As the two made eye contact, they immediately realised they had seen each other already. The day before. The high street. Morning traffic. No one else seemed to notice their surprise and Jack continued his speech as the other two exchanged a slight smirk like two kids sharing an inside joke behind the teacher's back.

'So let's look at the facts. Well... basically, the world has stopped turning.'

'Wow. Way to be dramatic.' Charlie said airily.

'No. Literally. The Earth is has stopped moving on its rotational axis. Its fixed. Stationary but still in orbit.'

'You're joking!'

'I wish I was.'

'Jesus.' Gwen exclaimed.

'So what do we do?' Steph asked.

'Well...' Jack hesitated.

'Have we actually got any leads yet, Jack?' Colchester replied in his standard cynical tone.

'Not exactly...'

'Maybe we're frozen in time? Like when Missy froze the planes?' Charlie suggested.

'Nope, we've had confirmation from various sites outside the atmosphere. Torchwood's had secret satellites out in space for years.' Steph replied.

'Are we sure we've stopped rotation? Maybe we've been taken out of space like the Daleks did back in... 2010 wasn't it? Yeah. I do my research...' Charlie raised an eyebrow at Jack who seemed to be impressed. A smile of amusement tugged at the corners of Jordan's mouth.

'Wait but hang on a sec, I got really bored late one night and did some research on stuff like this. If the Earth were to suddenly stop spinning, then that should've disturbed the gravitational pull. Land masses should've broken up. The atmosphere-' Jake explained.

'Wait so that means... something's keeping us alive? Something wants us alive?' Jordan asked.

'It needs us for something? Like what?' Gwen pondered.

'Dunno. We'll need to draw up a list of possible threats who've tried something like this before or could have reason to do something like this.' Charlie replied.

'Ah yes but with respect that will take forever as I don't believe anything like this has ever happened before. There are millions of potentially hostile species out there.' Colchester pointed out.

'Well, it's the best we've got.' 

'Agreed. We'll have to start building up a list and hope we can narrow this down a little.' Jack said reluctantly.

'Looks like it's gonna be an all-nighter then,' Gwen said.

'Not like there's much alternative,' Jordan sighed exasperatedly, leaning back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the table and raking his hands through his hair frustratedly.

'I'll do a coffee run if everyone wants to give me orders.' Steph said.

Everyone gave their orders to Gwen and Steph who prepared to head out. 

'I still feel like we're missing something. Something obvious,' Jake said, deep in thought.

Murmurs of agreement spread around the table. Gwen and Steph rose from their seats about to head out when Charlie interrupted, 'Oh my god! If the Earth has stopped spinning and the atmosphere that must be using an enormous amount of power!'

'Yeah! And the technology must be pretty complex too in order to control all of that. There can't be that many capable of that!' Jake added enthusiastically.

'Brilliant!' Jack smiled widely at him. 'Okay let's break off and we'll meet back here later to see what we've found.'

'Great,' Charlie said, quickly rising from his seat and stumbling out into the corridor as the adrenaline he was running on began to wear off and his hangover hit him like a tidal wave. His head thrummed and he reached out to the wall to steady himself. Jack, Jake and Colchester remained behind in conversation. 

Jordan strolled up to Charlie at the other end of the corridor. 'Hey so we were thinking about ordering a pizza- Woah, you okay?' He asked placing a hand on Charlie's back to steady him.

'Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine in a sec. Wicked hangover, ' Charlie winced, before popping a pill in his mouth and swallowing as they walked back out into the main part of the hub.

'Ahh. Gotcha,' Jordan grinned. 'So... I saw you yesterday didn't I?'

'Yes very perceptive of you. Well done, Sherlock. Wait, perceptive? Is that the right word? My head is banging right now.' Charlie eased himself into a chair clutching his head.

'I'll get you some water. Jesus, how much did you have last night?' Jordan chuckled as he.

'A lot. My new boss is a twat and my mates all bailed on me so...'

'Jack? I mean he's not that bad...' 

'Oh no, not him. He's a bit... much? But no, I meant my actual new boss. I started a job at city hall yesterday and my supervisor or whatever poncey title he's designated himself, is basically Wales's answer to the Incredible Hulk. Imagine like the lovechild of Satan and the Hulk! Absolute hell on earth, like beyond belief.'

Jordan leant back against a worktop smirking in amusement and smiling broadly as his eyes met Charlie's.

'What?' Jordan smirked.

'What?' Charlie smiled back.

'You've got that look on your face...' Jordan took a step forward.

'What? What look? We've literally never met before!' Charlie leant back momentarily. 'Hmm... Tell me, how exactly do I look, Jordan?'

Leaning in close, Jordan replied, 'Hmm. You look-'

Charlie what the fuck are you doing?! What about Ollie?! 'Woah! Hold up, I shouldn't be doing this-'

'Huh? Why not? No one's looking...'

Well technically it wasn't cheating... He and Ollie had only been on one date. They weren't committed to each other. But Ollie had already done so much for him and he could tell that he was serious about them possibly having a relationship and there was still that pang of guilt. But people date, right? That's what grown ups do isnt it? It's not like they'd agreed on exclusivity, had they? Human emotions were so complex. And it probably wasn't a great idea having a boyfriend at both workplaces. Bloody hell, his friends would have a field day with all the remarks he could make about this one.

'Jordan, I...'

'Alright everyone! Coffee's here!' Gwen called, just in the nick of time.

'Look I'm sorry, I just can't do this right now. And if you're still ordering food just get me some chips or whatever. I'm not that hungry and I'm not a fan of pizza anyway.'

'You don't like pizza?!'

'Yeah I know I'm weird, I'm crazy... Whatever.' Charlie replied flippantly. 'Still interested?'

'Hmm yeahhh,' Jordan teased.

'Well...' Charlie said, leaning in close, lips almost touching Jordan's. 'You'll have to work a bit harder than your usual to get me, mate. I'm not so easy.'

Charlie spun on his heel, quickly hurrying away to get his fix of caffeine, still feeling Jordan's eyes on him as he walked away. What on earth was he getting himself into?

A short while later everyone split the food amongst themselves and ventured off to their workstations. Charlie picked at his chips, his brow furrowed as he struggled to work out what to do next. 

'I know right. What to do now...' Gwen sighed. 'We'll get a lead soon enough. Then things will get going.'

Charlie smiled politely when Jordan approached them both and he awkwardly averted his gaze by pretending to be overtly interested in what was left of his chips.

'Jack said while we've not got any leads to leave this to Jake, Steph and Colchester. I suggested we run the autopsy of that kid your friend Andy sent over.'

'Wait what?' Charlie asked in great suspicion and confusion.

'Oh no no, I promise it's not as suspect as it sounds! I used to work for the police and I still keep in touch with my old police partner Andy and he calls us in to help with 'specialist cases'.' Gwen explained.

'What, aliens involved in petty thefts?' Charlie joked.

'More like violent bloody murders!' Jordan grinned fiendishly to match his joking tone. 'Coming?'

A smile tugged at Charlie's lips as he followed Jordan as he headed down towards the med bay which doubled as an autopsy room. Pulling on a lab coat, Jordan called over his shoulder, 'Just a head's up, you're about to see a dead body, so try not to gag.'

'Oh, don't worry I never gag...' Charlie said, suddenly realising what he'd said.

Jordan stopped in his tracks and spun round on the staircase into the medbay looking up at Charlie who was a couple of steps above him, with a wide smirk and a suggestive look in his eyes. 'Good to know.'

Charlie rolled his eyes and sighed, raking a hand through his hair, unable to hide his own amusement at his blunder.

'Try and keep it in your pants while you're at work yeah, Jordan?' Gwen said from the top of the staircase.

Charlie gave a small snort of laughter and Jordan quickly averted his gaze heading down into the med bay. The room itself was a round alcove beneath the surface level of the central part of the Hub adorned with weathered white tiles and storage lockers under the stairs, with a scattered assortment of medical trolleys and various other pieces of equipment surrounding a mortuary slab in the centre. The three of them gathered around the small corpse beneath the sheet. The size of the corpse was alarming to Charlie seeing that the victim couldn't be much different in age to Freddie. Noticing him visibly tense up and biting his nail, Jordan asked him, 'Ready?'

Charlie nodded hesitantly. In one swift movement the sheet was pulled back, revealing the bruised torso of the young refugee child. 

'Okay, so... why does it look like an autopsy's already been done?' Charlie asked, after taking a moment to steel himself.

'The police already have. So in summary, cause of death - broken neck. Bruising around the neck and forearms indicate some sort of a struggle, and... ah, yeah, sprained ankle, suggesting that young Assam here might've done a runner and then tripped at some point. No way of knowing that it happened like that or if that may have been what led to his death but it's certainly plausible.' Jordan replied.

'Right so what? D'you not trust their report? Think they've missed something?'

'More like they think he was killed by E.T.'

'Huh? On what grounds?!'

'There could be a serial child killer on the loose. We all have a duty to protect the public and that involves ruling out any possibilities.' Gwen interrupted.

'So, let me guess... You're gonna scan for residual artron energy traces?'

'Ding! Ding! Ding!' Jordan replied. 'Ah, I see you're not as daft as you look, eh?'

'Ha, funny! Call me daft again and I'll cut your dick off with one of these surgical instruments!' Charlie said airily. 

'Ooh i like this one!' Gwen chuckled.

Jordan winked back at Charlie cheekily as Gwen walked out, 'having enough of third wheeling for one day'.

'Look I'm probably just getting in the way so I'll just leave you to finish the scan...' Charlie said.

'No, no, it's okay, really, you don't have to-' Jordan fumbled when the scan completed. 'Ooh. Oooh! Wait come an' have a look at this!'

Charlie and Jordan huddled close around the screen, the red light illuminating their faces. 'No traces of artron energy. What's so weird about that? Just means there's a human psycho out there killing kids. The police can get on with it now while we deal with the real issue.'

'But the timings off. Come on it can't be a coincidence.'

'What if it's to do with psychology?' Charlie suggested. 'You know, like animals behaving differently as a storm approaches. Used to notice it with kids at school - used to go mental on the playground whenever there was a storm brewing.'

'Heh, not bad. That's really good actually. Brains and beauty, huh?'

'And blindness and beauty for you?'

'Ah maybe it's just the lighting then,' Jordan grinned. 'Don't take compliments well, do ya?'

'Not when they're not true,' Charlie retorted. 'I... don't get them often anyway.'

'Maybe you just need someone to tell you more often then. Maybe then you'll realise its true.' For the first time since meeting him, Charlie noticed a softness behind Jordan's rough masculine exterior as their eyes met and a tender smile tugged at the corners of Jordan's lips.

'Sooooo, about that kiss we nearly had earlier...' Jordan started leaning in but was cut off again when the screen began bleeping and another reading flashed onto the screen. 'Huh. That's weird.'

'What is?' Charlie asked.

The scan had detected traces of some other kind of background radiation. Something other worldly. Only trouble was it was unrecognised by the Torchwood database. Jordan sighed and said he'd run another scan of the database to be sure as he and Charlie stepped out, back into the main hub having ruined their moment. Jack came bounding down the stairs as they emerged. 

'I see you're getting stuck in! So I assume this means you're in?!' Jack grinned.

Charlie paused for a moment taking everything in. 'No.'

'Wait, what?'

'I don't need a job I- I've got a job! I've got responsibilities! Look, I can't do this anymore I just- I- I just can't! Look I'm sorry but I- oh fuck it!' Charlie trailed off as he legged it out of the door.

Jordan sidled up next to Jack with concern, 'Shouldn't we go after him?'

'Hmm nah!'

'What? Why not?'

'He'll be back. That look on his face as he left - that was him changing his mind. Besides I slipped a calling card in his jacket pocket earlier.'

Charlie slipped into his car and released a long deep breath he didn't know he'd been holding in. After a moment he raked a hand through his hair, stared into his rearview mirror with determination and drove round to his actual workplace. 

Cardiff City Hall, Wales

He strolled into the office, looking a little disshevelled, immediately catching Brenda's attention.

'Well, well, look who it is!' Brenda said with curiosity.

'Hey, Brenda,'

'What can I do for you?'

'Have you seen Ollie anywhere? Is he around?'

'Oh... No, he's gone. Family emergency, so I've heard. To be honest, I was hoping he'd gone to see you...'

'You're incorrigible!' Charlie said, as he began to feel heat rising to his cheeks. 'Okay, well, I've gotta get some work so I'll see you later.'

Charlie logged on to his computer and almost instantly began to despair at the long flurry of emails waiting in his inbox. After a moments pause, he found himself opening an internet tab and googling 'Torchwood' unable to repress his curiosity any longer. But there were no results. Nothing. Zilch. Nada. But nothing had no results? But they did. No sign of Torchwood anywhere on the internet. He remembered the card he'd found earlier in his pocket with the number to call. He paused for a moment, turning the flimsy piece of card over in his hands for a few moments before tucking it snugly into his jeans pocket and leaning back in his chair with an exasperated sigh.

Back in the hub, Jack and Jordan were huddled around Jake's screen as it displayed an internet search with the keyword 'torchwood' had been input from an IP address within the vicinity of the town hall. 'He's changing his mind, like you said,' Jake said.

'Ha! Told ya!' Jack clapped his hands together and leant back in a swivel chair at the neighbouring workstation feeling pleased with himself.

Jordan slipped away from the wall he was leaning against and walked back to his desk with the hint of a smile threatening to break out across his face.

Charlie's conflicted emotions were starting to bubble to the surface. He looked back between his screen and Llewellyn's office a few times, trying to make up his mind, before letting out a quiet 'Sod it!' and approaching Llewellyn's office. He paused momentarily outside his door before letting out a quick huff, knocking and entering. Llewellyn was in the middle of shouting down the phone but he stopped instantly as his eyes fell upon Charlie.

'Um... hi? I was wondering, would it be possible for me to... work from home this week?'

Fury blazed in his wide tired eyes; Llewellyn would've been more than a match for the Doctor, even with his attack eyebrows. He remained silent. Still. Calculating. All of a sudden his rage seemed to dissipate with a heavy exhale through his flared nostrils. 'Fine! Whatever! Just- just get out of my sight! I'm busy!'

The next words came out as one as Charlie shut the door, 'Okay, great thanks!' He slammed it shut and fell back against it in relief. The guy was a total wanker but there was still something intimidating about him. The moment was short lived as a thump came from the other side of the door as Llewellyn threw something at it. Charlie rolled his eyes and stuck two figures up at the door before walking away. Hurrying back to his desk he gathered up his files, stuffed them in his satchel and went out to his car to dump his stuff before going to get a coffee to celebrate his small victory. 

Cardiff High Street, Wales

As he walked down the high street he pulled his phone out to text Ollie as he passed under the amber streetlights.

----Hey, sorry about earlier. Just stopped by work, everything ok?? Fancy a coffee? 🙂

Charlie waited for his reply as he walked down the street when he suddenly became aware of blue and red lights blaring across his field of vision.

'Huh?' The road was cordoned off with police tape and cars lined the street.

'Sorry everyone you'll have to turn around. Please vacate the area! This is now an active crime scene!' Police Sergeant Andy Davidson announced.

'What's happened?' One gawker asked.

'I'm afraid a child has gone missing.'

'Another one?' said another onlooker.

As one of the others began to argue with the police officers Charlie took a moment before turning to walk back to his car, noticing a scrawny looking guy in a hoodie watching from a safe distance. He wondered if he should say something to the police about the suspicious guy but something stopped him.

As Charlie clambered back into his car he turned on the radio and then checked his phone to see a reply from Ollie.

Now's not a good time sorry----

----Everything ok? R u still mad at me? 😞

No it's not you, can't talk rn sorry----

'Guess it's not my day today.' Charlie sighed as he turned the ignition and began the slow crawl back to Newport. A short while later he leant against the window staring forlornly when more blue and red lights flashed past. Oh what he would give to be able to cut through this traffic like them.

What was strange was the traffic seemed to be more dense than usual even approaching Charlie's road. 

Newport, Wales

As he made the turning, for the second time that day he was greeted by blue and red lights flashing across his face. A grave look of confusion washed over him as he turned onto his road and was forced to park at the end as police cars lined the streets, splashing shades of blue and red luminescence against the houses. As Charlie approached his house with a furrowed brow, Siobhan met him on the doorstep to have a look at what was going on along with all the other residents on the street.

'And where the hell have you been?!' Siobhan asked accusingly.

'Stuck in traffic.' Charlie replied, vacantly, as he focused his attention on the police investigations 'What's going on?!'

'That boy from down the end of the road's gone missing!'

'Huh?! Another one?! There were roads all closed off in the city 'cause a kid had gone missing. That's why I took so long.'

A bitter chill set in and Charlie clung to his leather jacket whilst Siobhan pulled her dressing gown tighter with one hand and holding Freddie by her side with the other as they all gazed out at the bustling police officers approaching each house in turn. That's when he noticed him. The guy in the hoodie from earlier. He surveyed the scene intently, fixing his eyes on Charlie as they noticed each other.

'Oh hell no!' Charlie uttered under his breath.

'Whats the matter? Who's that over there?' Siobhan asked.

Charlie glanced back and forth at the police who were still going door to door. 'Sod it! That bloke knows something. I'm going after him!'

'What? That's what the police are for!'

'Yeah, well they're bloody useless! And I'm not letting him be the next missing persons report filed.' Charlie rebutted, gesturing to Freddie as he handed his satchel to Siobhan.

'Wait, hang on-'

Charlie raced down the steps towards the hooded figure and after clueing on to what he was doing, the mystery man legged it round the corner.

'Hey!' Charlie yelled, drawing the attention of a couple of police officers. But he didnt intend to stick around to explain himself. He veered round the corner to see the guy about to get into his car. On impulse, he whipped the sonic screwdriver out of his inside coat pocket and directed it at the car's bonnet, disabling its engine. The guy looked up noticing him suddenly with a 'deer-in-headlights' expression on his face and bolted down the road on foot, his feet scraping heavily on the tarmac as he skidded around the corner and leapt onto the pavement just in time to get out of the way of an oncoming car. Charlie followed after him in pursuit unaware of the vehicle as he turned the corner, forcing the driver to make an emergency brake. Charlie steadied himself on the car bonnet as he slipped past calling a futile apology over his shoulder. 

Faster and faster, the chase winded down roads and alleyways, until Charlie no longer knew where he was, houses and walls blurring into one dark mass of brickwork with orangey streaks of light. The guy in the hoodie was just out of grabbing distance when he swerved into another alleyway, as Charlie swung for him, tipping a bin over to put some distance between the two of them and give him a chance to clamber over the iron gate to a park across the road. However it was not enough to deter his pursuant as Charlie leapt over the tipped bin and its rubbish strewn across the pavement and blew the lock off the gate, swinging it open, with a flourish of the sonic. Yet as they headed further and further inward they found themselves in dense woodland. Charlie looked around in all directions at the silhouettes of trees with naked branches in the moonlight. A thick fog rolled in all directions and in his disorientation, Charlie realised he'd lost his target. All was silent. No sign of any other life. Charlie could sense something wasn't right and with slightly shaking hands from the adrenaline, he found himself dialling the phone number of Captain Jack Harkness.

He glanced around uncertainly, sensing another presence watching him, Charlie panted heavily as he spoke, his laboured exhalations visible in the icy air, 'Jack? It's me. I'm in. And I think I know where we can start looking.'

Charlie inched cautiously through the mist until eventually he found himself on even ground - a footpath. His heavy breaths swirled into the air in front of him as he moved through the dense fog. Sensing he was not quite alone, he drew his phone from his pocket with shaking hands brought on by a combination of fear and adrenaline coursing through his veins and the bitter January chill. There was a text from Ollie:

Hey sorry about yesterday x----

As Charlie went to respond a second message came through from an unrecognised number.

We'll be there soon. Just hang tight. 

                                            - Jordan----

How had he got his number? Settling on the conclusion that they must all have it now that he'd joined the team, he realised he had bigger priorities. Something was out there. In the fog. He could sense it watching him. Sorry Ollie, you're gonna have to wait. Charlie found himself calling Jordan back, growing anxious as he answered the phone.

'Hello?' Jordan asked, seeming somewhat surprised to be hearing from Charlie, which seemed odd in itself considering Jordan had just messaged him.

'Um, hey... Are you gonna be long because I think there's someone watching me. Or something...'

'What? What do you think it is? Can you see anything?'

'I dunno. There's something moving out there in the fog. Can you hurry it up?'

'What's going on back there?' Jack called in the background. Jordan explained the situation to him and asked him to step on it.

'Right we'll be turning into the car park in about 30 seconds. Woah, it is really foggy here. Can you find your way to us?'

'Ummm... I'll do my best?'

'Okay, be careful, yeah?' Jordan said with genuine concern.

'Uh, yeah, yeah. I'll see you in a sec.' Charlie let out a shaky sigh into the icy night, illuminated under the haunting glow of the moon. However the moment of stillness he found himself in was short-lived as he became aware of another presence just beyond the fog around him.

'Hello? Is someone there?' Charlie asked the empty void before him. 'Was it you I saw earlier? Were you following me? Is that it?'

Charlie could just about make out a figure moving in the swirling darkness. 'Do you know something about what's going on? What do you know about the kids? The ones who went missing?'

The figure gave no response. Just stood there. Silently hovering. Watching intently.

'I'm part of the investigation. We're trying to work out whats going on here. Please, I just wanna talk to you. If there's anything you can tell us- Woah, holy shit!' Charlie exclaimed as the figure burst forwards out of the fog at seemingly inhuman speed, tackling him to the ground. The creature lurched towards him - its appearance seemed almost simian with a sort of flattened face and sharp, fang-like teeth. 

Charlie struggled against its iron grip as he strained his neck to keep it away from its growling chasm of serrated tushes.

'God, you stink whatever you are!' Charlie coughed as he struggled against its grip. Suddenly a spotlight shone on them from the side. The light was growing larger and Charlie heard Jordan and the others running towards him calling out to him as he wrestled the creature off of him, allowing just enough time to crawl out from under it and beside Jordan for protection as Jack and Gwen dealt with the creature, causing it to succumb to docility after an electric shock and some sort of specialised spray.

'You alright?!' Jordan asked with concern, holding his shoulders in a firm grip as his eyes roamed over him instinctively checking for any sign of injury.

'Relax, Doc. I'm fine.' Charlie insisted, patting Jordan on the shoulder.

'You handled yourself well,' Steph smiled as she approached.

'What can I say? Not my first rodeo...' Charlie smiled back in between heavy breaths. 'What is that thing anyway.'

'It's called a Weevil. Well at least according to us. They come through the rift all the time. We're not too sure where from - they're not exactly easy to communicate with. There's a couple of hundred of them in the city living in the sewers, feeding off whatever they can find.'

'Ah that explains the smell then.' Charlie spluttered

'Exactly. So basically every once in a while, one of them goes rogue, comes to the surface and attacks a civilian. Actually, it's been happening more and more, these last couple of days with everything going on. It seems to agitate them.'

Colchester strolled up behind them tapping at a phone screen. 'Right that's the area secured but we should get going  in case anyone's still watching.'

'Yeah, come on let's get you back to the hub,' Jordan said, slinging an arm around Charlie who wearily leant into his embrace.

Torchwood Hub, Cardiff Bay, Wales

Charlie hovered over the keyboard on his phone, unsure where to start his reply to Ollie. Jordan knocked on the door to Jack's office where Charlie was sat by himself.

'Hey. You okay? Can I get you anything? A cuppa maybe?'

'Got anything stronger?' Charlie joked.

'Save that for later.' Jordan chuckled. 'Sure you're okay though?'

'Yeah, I've rung home so they've stopped worrying at least. Steph's working on the e-fit cross-referencing so I'm all done. Free to go.'

'You want me to take you home? I'm clocking off for a bit now anyway,' 

'Nah. Thanks the offer but I don't really fancy any more probing questions so I guess I'll just wait here till the results come in.'

'Well... in that case, what do you say - you, me, drink?'

'Make that plural and I'm in.' Charlie replied.

'Oh it's alright, you'll only need one of me, I can assure you,'

'Yeah one's enough of a pain in the arse!' Charlie snickered.

'Well, I wouldn't quite put it like that myself.'

'I bet a lot of others would though! Come on... Not even a crazy ex? Estranged sibling? Past conquest?'

'Actually, I haven't got any family left. There was my mum. But she died about 10 years ago.'

'Oh. Shit. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-'

'No, no, it's okay. Don't worry about it. But really though, is that all you see me as? Just half of Cardiff's paramour?'

'Woah, hey I never said that. I was gonna say more... Casanova?'

'Ha, I think I can live with that. Although we're just talking personality, right, 'cause I've seen his paintings and he's no oil painting.'

'That joke was painful!' Charlie groaned before letting out a small laugh. 'So, come on then what else is there to learn about the elusive Dr. Jordan Henderson?'

'Come and see,' Jordan winked, holding out his hand for Charlie to take.

'Hmm. Alright then. Yeah. Let's see whatcha got, Casanova.' Charlie grinned as Jordan led him out of the hub.

'Again with the Casanova, huh?'

'Hmm, yeah I think it suits you!'

'Oh, and what was it, elusive?!'

'Oh shut up!'

'Aww have I made you blush 'cause you really fancy me?'

'You're full of it!'

'Yeah and you know you love it!' 

'Shut up!' Charlie laughed, playfully shouldering him as they strolled out of the hub.

'Oh and for the record, you're wayyy more elusive than I am!'

'Oh my god I am so not!'

Fusion Nightclub, Cardiff, Wales

'So you were here last night then?' Jordan asked.

'Yup. All by myself. Sad lonely drinker. If only you were here last night. A handsome stranger to flirt with would've definitely lightened the mood,' Charlie replied, swinging one leg over the other and sipping his cocktail. 'So if this is one of your favourite spots, where exactly were you last night?'

'I- um... I was- busy,' Jordan replied hesitantly, struggling to recall his drunken tryst with a guy and a girl from the previous night.

'Mm hmm.' Charlie took another sip of his cocktail and then turned back to Jordan who maintained his poker face. 'So, tell me about you then. You promised me there was more to tell.'

'Isn't it my turn to ask you a question now? Isn't that how it works?'

'Not when you're the one trying to impress.' Charlie joked.

'Oh, is that right?!' Jordan chuckled. 'Guess I'd better up my game then.'

'Eh, I gotta admit. You're not doing too badly. You're a hot guy with a permanent job and you bought me a drink so as far as good starts go... But as I said before, I'm not as easy as your usuals.'

'Heh, all these compliments are gonna make my head explode.'

'Ah, we don't want that! There's only one part on a guy than should ever be disproportionately large.'

Jordan almost choked on his drink as a look of amusement spread across his face. 'You are full of surprises aren't you?!'

'Plenty more, where that came from... Come on, you. Let's hit the dancefloor. Show me your moves!' Charlie said, grabbing Jordan's hand and leading him towards the dancefloor.

'What happens now?!' Jordan grinned.

'You're on a fucking dancefloor, what do you think?!' Charlie laughed.

'Like this? Or this? Maybe this?' Jordan said as he demonstrated an array of embarrassing dance moves. Charlie buried his head in his hands as he doubled over in a fit of laughter. Biting his lip and raking his hand through his hair he stepped towards him.

'I was thinking more like this...' Charlie murmured in Jordan's ear, throwing his arms around him and swaying in time with the music. 'There, see, now you're getting it.'

'Mmm hmm. Yeah this isn't so bad!' Jordan said leaning in closely enough for Charlie to hear over the thumping bass. He took in the strong scent of Jordan's cologne, losing himself momentarily leaning his head on Jordan's shoulder.

'Tired already?!' Jordan jested.

'No wayyy!' Charlie protested, launching himself off of Jordan with newfound energy, pulling him further onto the dancefloor.

'What now?' Jordan asked.

'Just feel the music! Do what feels natural.'

'What like this?'  Jordan said before closing the distance between them in one large stride and pressing his lips against Charlie's, cupping his face with both hands and for a moment that was it. All the music faded to nothing, just the two of them. After that long savoured moment they pulled apart losing themselves in each other's eyes as neon lights danced across their faces and the thumping bass wrapped them in a sense of security and familiarity.

'I meant dancing!' Charlie laughed breathlessly, snapping out of their trance.

'You don't sound too disappointed though!'

'Who said I was?' Charlie said flirtatiously, leaning in for another kiss before stopping short suddenly. 'Ah I see! You're trying to distract me from the fact you don't wanna dance! Or is it that you can't?'

'Was that a challenge?'

'You want it to be?' Charlie asked.

'Heh. Alright then, you asked for it!' Jordan said as he launched into a routine of complex breakdance and hip hop moves, leaving Charlie watching in discombobulation.

'Wow okay then! Guess I'm not the only one full of surprises then! I should've known you were holding out on me!' Charlie said as he took Jordan's outstretched hand and allowed himself to be pulled towards him, the pair of them swaying closely to one another.

After at least an hour's worth of intoxication and dancing closely on the packed floor, enjoying each other's company, the two of them made their way over to a secluded corner by the bar.

'Come on then. My turn.' Jordan turned to Charlie, leaning back against the bar. 'What's your deal? Why do you have all these walls up? What's stopping you from letting loose and just enjoying yourself with me?'

'What? I am!'

'Then why'd you freeze up when you were gonna kiss me earlier? What's holding you back?'

'Maybe you're just not up to my standards.' Charlie quipped.

'That's not it.'

'Ha. How humble of you, Dr Henderson.'

'You know what I think it is?'

'Oh do enlighten me, seeing as you think you know me so well even though we've only just met.'

'I think you're worried you're not up to my standards.'

'Ha! Hun, I assure you, you are the only person who thinks the Sun shines out of your arse.'

'Sure?' Jordan grinned. 

'Isn't it obvious?' Charlie sighed and took a big gulp of his drink. 'If.... If I have my walls up it saves me from what comes later. You... breaking my heart. It's inevitable. It's how these things always play out. I fall for you and then you break my heart someday.'

'Woah, okay. Didn't expect to go that deep... But, you know, a drink's just a drink. If that's what you want. Just take each moment as it comes. No pressure.' And that was exactly why Charlie was afraid of falling in love. There, in that moment, was the perfect man.

'I told you already. I'm not that easy.'

'I know. I'm still gonna get through those walls though... I wanna see what's inside.'

'Isn't that from a song?' Charlie asked.

'You're desperate to avoid this aren't you?!'

'Yeah it's definitely from a song I'm sure it is!' Charlie thought aloud with great insistence. 'You know what we need? More shots! Lots more shots!'

'You sure that's a good idea?' Jordan chuckled as Charlie swayed unsteadily leaning on him for support.

'Uh, excuse me! I am not as think as you drunk I am!'

'Now who's giving out song lyrics?!'

'I am sure I don't know what you're on about!'

'Here, take it easy. Have some of this. It's just water.'

'Awww aren't you cute! Look at your face! It's just sooooooo...' Charlie played with Jordan's face laughing groggily.

'Come on you, let's get you a cab. I think you've had enough for one night.'

'What! No no no! I'm not even drunk! Jordan, I'm not even drunk!' Charlie protested as Jordan led him out to where a cab happened to be waiting. 'Look, see I'm not drunk! I am mildly ineb- inebri- ine- Hmm that's a big word... Did someone put ginger in my drink?!'

'Ha ha yeah whatever you say,' Jordan replied as he held the cab door open for Charlie.

'You know what, I think I'm feeling a bit easier after all...' Charlie mumbled as he slipped into the cab before turning to look back up at Jordan who was still holding the door open. 'Coming?'

Jordan paused for a moment and then smirked as he clambered in alongside him with a look of mischief and desire in his eyes.

Somewhere... in Wales presumably?

Charlie awoke to find himself in an unfamiliar bedroom, his clothes from the night before lying strewn on the floor beside him.

'Ugh, where the fuck am I?' Charlie asked himself as he recollected the previous night's events. 'Holy shit!'

Charlie scrambled to pick up his clothes and locked himself in the bedroom's en suite bathroom and hurriedly pulling out his phone and calling his friend, David.

Moments later, he answered the call. 'Ugh bitch do you know what time it is?!'

'Half past nine...' Charlie replied sarcastically.

'What do you want? I want to go back to sleep...'

'I am a total slag!'

'Yeah, have you only just clued on?'

'I'm serious!'

'What is it this time?'

'Um to be honest I'm not really sure...'

'Wait where are you?'

'Not sure. I got pissed last night at a club with this guy from work and then we went home together, I think, but like he's not here now...'

'Oh what the cute guy with the glasses?! God that was quick! Go, you!'

'No! That's the thing. It's not him. It's this other guy from my other job. I have two jobs now, by the way, long story.'

'What!? You shagged some other guy after going on about that guy non stop the other day. Yeah you're a hoe. At least tell me he's hot... Wait hang on. Not being funny how have you pulled two guys in two days and I can't find anyone?'

'Yes I'm a total dick... um, yeah he's definitely hot... and I know right! Ugh I miss being ugly...' Charlie sighed wistfully.

'You still are.' David retorted.

'Thanks bitch!' Charlie chuckled.

'So what now?'

'Um, I guess I go to work.'

'Wait but won't the guy be there?'

'Oh shit!'

'Aw well done! How did you actually manage to shag someone at both places where you work?!'

'Hey, I didn't shag Ollie. I haven't even kissed him!'

'Don't tell me their names! I don't need to get attached as well.'

'To be honest I'm not even sure I slept with Jordan. Last night's kind of a blur.'

'Wait you don't even know if you did or not? Christ, you woke me up for this!'

Charlie sighed raking a hand through his hair and stepping back out into the bedroom.

'Shit, I think I'm in his flat.'

'Ollie's flat?'

'No the other one! Jordan. Ollie's the one who I told you about.'

'Jordan's a fuckboy name. You had a one night stand with a fuckboy, congratulations.'

'Well at least he's got a place of his own. Not bad actually. And he's a doctor. An army doctor. And he kind of looks like that bloke from 'Game of Thrones.' You know, the fit one?'

'Aren't they all fit? Ooh okay. I take it back he sounds fit! If you ain't shagged him yet, shag him. If you have shag him again!'

'What about Ollie though!'

'Screw him as well! Might as well, it's not like they work in the same place...'

'You're such a slag!'

'I know. And you know that. Why else did you call me?!'

'Hmm true.'

'Okay I guess I should get to work, I'll um call you later once I've sorted my life out.'

'Laters, hoe!' David said jokingly as he hung up the phone.

Buttoning up the last of his shirt, Charlie stepped out of the room suddenly becoming aware that he was in Jordan's flat and he was likely still at home. The light pouring into the room made it almost seem as if it was daylight and Charlie took a moment for his eyes to adjust. The scent of bacon hit him and he glanced up cautiously from his phone to see Jordan dancing around his kitchen shirtless as he made breakfast and 'Lean On' by Major Lazer played on the radio. Charlie stood momentarily mesmerised by Jordan's muscular physique until he noticed him watching.

'Ah morning sleepyhead!' Jordan smiled.

'Um... yeah. About that, did we...?' Charlie replied.

'Hook up?'

'Yeah...'

'Trust me, if we did, you'd remember.' Jordan winked with his winning smile.

'So what actually happened?'

'You were absolutely off your head and I brought you home. Believe me it wasn't that I didn't want to, but you weren't in any fit state to say what you wanted.'

'Thanks.' Charlie smiled. 

'You're welcome.' Jordan smiled back.

Their eyes lingered on each other's faces for a moment before Jordan realised he was letting the food burn.

'Um, so I fancied bacon. I wasn't sure if you'd want it, you know, being a total weirdo when it comes to food, but if not, more for me!'

'As long as it's still edible I'm down.' Charlie sniggered admiring the flexing of Jordan's lean muscles as he slid Charlie a plate across the counter.

'I like my bacon crispy.' Jordan replied.

'Yeah but there's a difference between burnt and crispy...'

'Urgh. Yeah.' Jordan sighed as he spat out a mouthful of charred bacon. 'Guess your right...'

Torchwood Hub, Cardiff Bay, Wales

A short while later, the two got ready for work and before long, Jordan typed away at his desk when Gwen sidled up next to him, speaking in a hushed tone and leaning in conspiratorially, 'Morning... You two seem close.'

'Huh?'

'Walking in with the new guy.'

'Yeah and?'

'In yesterday's clothes?'

'It's not like that...' Jordan smiled sheepishly.

'Yeah well, just keep it in your pants at work yeah? We've got a job to do.'

'Yes boss.'

'That was quick. Nice job.' Jack remarked suggestively, breezing past Jordan's desk.

Steph hurried after him carrying a wad of papers. 'Jack?! Um, I was doing some thinking and even if gravity has been maintained we should still all be dead from tsunamis or something... So I ran some simulations and basically the Moon is being manipulated as well to maintain our atmosphere, which would mean that they, whoever they are, must be using even more energy than we thought. We should being increasing the strength on energy signature traces.'

'Great work, get it done!'

'On it!' Steph beamed, pushing her glasses back on the rim of her nose and running off to her computer.

'Shouldn't, I dunno, NASA or someone be handling all that?' Jordan asked.

'It's in meltdown apparently. Bloody Americans for you...' Colchester replied as he sauntered past.

Minutes later, Gwen called everyone over to her computer. The results on the E-Fit cross referencing had come back with a match. And surely enough, it was the guy in the hoodie from the day before. 

'So who is he then?' Mr Colchester asked.

Gwen replied, 'Professor Richard Dunn. Ex-Cambridge lecturer. Mid-30s. Escaped from Solitude Heights Psychiatric Institution in Bristol two weeks ago. No criminal record or past convictions. Checked into the hospital six months ago for an indefinite stay. No mention as to why.'

'I can go through his work, see if there are any clues?' Steph offered.

'Sure. Mr Colchester and I can take over the energy signature tracking.'

'Sounds like someone knew something they shouldn't.' Jake interrupted. 'No better reason to have someone confined to an asylum with no way out.'

'Jake! I didn't hear you come in.' Jack said.

Jake shrugged in response. Jack led him away from the group as Gwen continued the debrief.

'Right Jordan, Charlie. We need to bring this guy in for questioning as a matter of urgency. He might know something important.'

'Roger that.' Jordan said.

'Right everyone let's get to it then!' Gwen ordered, dispersing the group.

'What are you doing back here, Jake?' Jack asked.

'I've slept and now I'm back at work. I don't want to spend all day stuck at home, doing nothing. Here I can make a difference. Please Jack! Just let me help.' Jake looked up at Jack with big pleading eyes.

'Okay. See if Steph wants a hand going through Dunn's work. But don't burn yourself out, you hear?' Jack smiled brushing Jake's cheek with the back of his hand.

'Jack... I-' Jake was cut off as Colchester called out to him from across the hub.

'Sorry. Catch you later, yeah?'

Jake sighed. 'Yeah. I guess so.'

The Telegraph HQ, England, 2014

Steph sighed as she scrolled through mountains of text on her computer screen. 

'Oh, Steph, I need these proof-read before you go, please,' said one of her superiors, placing a thick file of documents on her desk.

'Oh well actually the thing is-'

'Great thanks!' the man said walking off.

Steph sighed heavily and reluctantly opened the file.

Torchwood Hub, Cardiff Bay, Wales, 2016

Steph sighed heavily and reluctantly opened the first file in a pile taller than she was able to see over whilst sitting down.

'You alright?' Jake asked, pulling up a chair next to her and taking the next file at the top of the mountain of paperwork.

'Yeah, yeah. Just... tired.'

'Of what?'

'God, you always see through don't you?' Steph chuckled.

'Sorry. I can't help it,' Jake smiled softly.

Steph paused for a moment before explaining, 'I used to be a journalist. I know Jack and Colchester say we shouldn't talk about our past too much, things can get complicated and all that but... I just thought I'd left all this behind when I joined Torchwood. I thought it'd be more than this! That I'd be more than this! But here I am rifling through files and case studies dating back centuries!'

'Well to be fair, it's a wonder how much of its still here, considering this place has taken a battering quite a few times over the years.'

'Yeah well, half of it's been nicked from the CIA and other military intelligence archives. Another thing UNIT would have against us if they knew we had their files...'

The two shared a conspiratorial look of knowing before burying their heads in their files.

Gwen huffed agitatedly, drumming her hand on the table and bouncing her leg as she waited for the suspect to show up on CCTV. 

'Hey! I've found him! It's definitely him, it's Dunn!' Charlie called. 

'Finally!' Gwen exclaimed.

'Where is he?' Jordan asked.

'Upstairs...? He's outside Nando's...' Charlie said.

'Hang on this shot's half an hour old...'

'Yeah but I checked CCTV just now. He's been waiting out there for over an hour now. Barely moved from that spot.'

'Do you think he's waiting for someone? Do you think they could tell us something important?'

'I doubt it. To be in such close proximity to the hub... that surely can't be a coincidence. He knows about me, maybe he knows about this place too. He definitely knows something...'

'About Torchwood?! Not bloody likely. There was a time when all of South Wales knew who we were but now...' Gwen trailed off lost in thought.

'So he is waiting for someone then. You. No way are we doing this. This is screaming 'it's a trap'!' Jordan insisted.

'Woah, easy tiger. I'm a big boy. I can handle this.' Charlie rebutted.

'You're like 5 foot 7.'

'Bitch please you're practically the same height as me!'

'Right, are you finished with your domestic? Yes? Good. Now let's go and have a little chat with Professor Dunn shall we?' Gwen said strutting towards the water tower, her heels clicking loudly against the concrete floor.

As they stepped onto the paving slab lift and clunked upwards unsteadily, they took the opportunity to formulate a game plan. Charlie was to go alone, whilst being followed unnoticeably by Gwen and Jordan.

Upon reaching surface level, Charlie walked out first whilst the other two remained behind the water tower as cover. Within seconds, Dunn spotted him and once he had affirmed that he was now being followed, Charlie pulled his hood up and started walking further down the street.

'Hang on where the bloody hell's he going?' Gwen exclaimed. 'Charlie, what are you doing?'

'Leading him away. If we have to go good cop bad cop on him we should try and get him out of sight right?'

'That was not the plan! Could we not have just, oh I dunno, taken him back to base?'

'If he knows about Torchwood then the Hub is the last place we should be taking him? He could be dangerous!'

'He's got a point...' Jordan muttered.

'Yeah and what if he was luring us out for someone else to get inside?! Oh, for Christ's sake, he's getting away!' Gwen exclaimed.

Charlie turned sharply down a narrow alleyway. Dunn looked around cautiously before proceeding to make the turn. He halted suddenly when he realised he seemed to be alone. Without warning, a pair of strong hands grabbed his shoulders, pinning him against the wall.

'Who are you and what do you want?!' Jordan asked aggressively as Charlie and Gwen appeared beside him.

'Well we already know who he is... And I thought I was gonna be bad cop! Why do I never get to be bad cop?!' Charlie protested.

Dunn stammered in surprise, failing to string a sentence together.

'Ugh step aside lads,' Gwen said rolling her eyes.

'Who are you people?' Dunn said at last.

'My name's Gwen. I work with these two. Do you know something? Something you wanna tell us.' Gwen answered in a pleasant tone.

The gaunt-faced man stammered, not producing an actual response.

'Look this is getting us nowhere... You know exactly who we are so cut the bullshit.' Charlie retorted after a heavy sigh and an eye roll. 'Why have you been stalking me? What do you want from me? If you know anything about this then you better start fucking talking mate before I or muscles here lose our shit.' He gestured to Jordan who gave him a smirk of amusement.

'And I'm a very patient woman but even I've gotta say I'm starting to lose my patience so like they said start talking, or I'll kick your teeth in before these two even get their hands on you.' Gwen snarled.

'Okay. I'll talk. Just to him though.' Dunn gestured to Charlie.

'Why me?!'

Gwen and Jordan gave them some space in spite of Charlie's protests.

'Go on then talk. Why me?'

'I saw you the other night. When they recruited you. You were my way in so I've been keeping an eye on you. You have a brother, yes? A child?' 

'Yeah and? He ain't coming anywhere near you if that's what you're trying to get at.'

'No! That's why it's so important. He's in danger. They all are.'

'Who are? What the fuck is going on?!'

Dunn glanced around nervously. 'Not here,' was all he said as he shoved a scrunched up piece of paper into Charlie's hand slinking off into the night.

'Well what do we know now?' Jordan said.

'Fuck all except he's a bloody maniac.' Charlie replied snarkily.

'Charming!'

'What did he give you?' Gwen asked.

Charlie unfurled the note; it read: 'The Carrington Hotel. 1pm. Room 103.'

'Remember what I said about a trap?' Jordan said.

'We've got to go. Whether we like it or not, I think this guy knows what's going on. He's our best bet at working this whole mess out.'

They all nodded in agreement and went back to the Hub to get ready.

The Carrington Hotel, Cardiff, Wales

The fifteen story building towered over them - a symphony in marble. 

'So this is it then.' Jordan said, squinting up at the hotel as they approached.

'Swankyyyy,' Charlie stared in admiration. 'I feel underdressed.'

'Come on, we're already late. Thanks to someone...' Gwen shot daggers at Jordan.

'You can't drive past a McDonald's drive-thru and not pick up food! It's just wrong!'

'Aw, I appreciated the sharebox at least.'

'Yeah I know! You had more than I did.'

Charlie grinned leaning against Jordan's shoulder.

'Which room was it?' Jordan asked

'103. So according to the floor plan, that should be...' The three crowded around an A4 layout of the hotel and looked up to the hotel room window where Dunn was staying when all of a sudden- KABOOM! A great ball of fire erupted from the window in a clowd of thick black smoke spraying fine shards of glass onto the street below. The three shielded their eyes from the blast before looking back up in a mixed state of shock and horror.

'Oh my god.' Charlie said.

'But this just doesn't happen in Cardiff!' Gwen protested.

'We've gotta go now! Come on back to the SUV!' Jordan said.

'But what about Dunn?!'

'Whatever he knew is gone! If he was in there, there'll be nothing left of him now. Any second now that hotel is gonna spill out onto the street here and its gonna look a bit shifty if three people seen getting out of an SUV are found with a floor plan with room 103 circled. We'll have to come back with a police warrant but for now we have to go! Now, come on!'

The three ran back to the vehicle, clambered in and sped off with Jordan driving, Charlie in shotgun and Gwen in the back trying to call the Hub.

Charlie turned to Jordan, 'Hey. I think that sharebox just saved our lives...'

Torchwood Hub, Cardiff Bay, Wales

'So that could've gone better...' Colchester said with an air of sarcasm as he always did.

'Shit!' Gwen exclaimed. 'Shit! Shit! Shit!'

'Yep.' Charlie sighed slumping into a chair as Jordan placed a hand on his shoulder.

'Bastards!'

Suddenly Jack came out of his office. 'What the hell happened?!'

Jordan stepped forward, 'Jack, I'm sorry. It's my fault-'

'Wait what?! Jordan shut up! This isn't on you!'

'Charlie-'

'Listen here, Captain Jack Dipshit! Someone wanted to silence the professor and if we'd been there minutes earlier three of your team members would be dead and you'd still have no information! You can berate us all you want but it won't make any bloody difference!'

'Yep, we're definitely keeping this one.' Gwen almost laughed in spite of the tension laying thick in the air. The atmosphere was palpable when Jake and Steph burst into the room waving printouts in the air - they appeared to be maps.

'We've done it!' Steph called. 'We've triangulated the energy source!'

'And it's pretty close.' Jake added, his look of victory directed solely at Jack as if no one else was in the room.

'Yeah! It's not far from the border.'

'The border?' Gwen asked.

'Yep! We're going back to England!'

'Oh for f-' 

Berkeley Nuclear Power Station, Gloucestershire, England

'What's the deal with this place?' Jake said brushing a cobweb off his sleeve as they walked through one of the empty control rooms, lit only by their handheld torches.

'This used to be a fully functioning power station. Shut down a couple of decades ago. It's been in a state of disuse ever since.' Colchester replied.

'Or so we thought...' Jack added ominously, inching past pieces of abandoned machinery, leading the way into the never-ending darkness of the complex.

'God why couldn't the power source have been in Miami or Buenos Aires?!' Steph muttered under her breath.

'I wouldn't have minded a trip to Berlin myself.' Charlie replied.

'Oh yeah? Have you been before?'

'Yeah a couple of times actually. Tend to steer clear of the 1940s although there was one time where I got stuck there in 1941 for a couple of months. Nasty business...'

'There's a door.' Jack interrupted. Jordan and Colchester raised their guns as Jack turned the wheel lock on the heavy industrial door and the group stepped out onto a balcony opening out to overlook a labyrinth of pipes and machinery. Surveying the scene, Jack gave the call to split up and search the compound in pairs as they had an even number due to Gwen's absence.

'Where is Gwen anyway?' Jordan asked.

'Something about Rhys going out and her mum being busy so there was no one to watch Anwen...' Steph replied. Earpieces in, the group shared an anxious look before dividing off to explore the plant, unsure of what may lurk in the darkness - Jack went with Jake as always, Colchester paired with Charlie and seeing as Gwen wasn't there, Steph went with Jordan much to her contentment and his underlying frustration.

Steph looped her arm in Jordan's and strolled away as Jordan looked back helplessly. Charlie eyed the scene with apprehension as Colchester gave a cynical remark walking off, expecting him to follow suit.

'So... we're alone now.' Jack said with a mischievous smirk.

'Oh I see! Was this all some elaborate plan to get me alone? You didn't have to stop the world turning but I suppose it does sound romantic...' Jake smiled softly.

'Heh, if only. But we should talk about yesterday... At your flat.'

'Yeah? What about it?' Jake snaked an arm around Jack's waist leaning into him.

'Well... I recall it going something like this,' Jack said lifting Jake's chin to meet his lips for a gentle kiss. They parted after a moment and Jake was first to speak. 'That was incredible! But... Jack, I know you've lost a lot already but the thing is...'

'What?'

'I get if you want to keep this casual but the truth is I don't want to get involved in this if this doesn't mean something to you. I just can't do it. I'm sorry.'

'Who said this means nothing to me?' Jack asked running a thumb along Jake's jawline as he stared down into his eyes longingly. 'After Ianto... I thought that was it. But when I'm with you, I can't help myself. You are a whole lot more than nothing to me, Jake.'

'Aww, Jack... Sooooo, does this mean we're a couple?'

'If you want to be, I guess. Let's take it slow and see how it goes. I wanna do this right. For you.'

'That is probably the sweetest thing I've ever heard come out of your dirty mouth!' Jake chuckled.

'I think you're probably right...' Jack laughed heartily.

Meanwhile elsewhere, Steph walked absent-mindedly shining her torch anywhere keeping her gaze fixed on Jordan's dimly lit face while he kept his eyes forward desperate to ignore her ogling him.

'So this is fun! You know just the two of us... Working together... Like a team. Snooping around an abandoned energy plant... It's kind of exciting isn't it? Dangerous. There's something kind of sexy about it, don't you think? In like a James Bond kind of way...' Steph said, placing a hand on his chest.

Jordan let out an uncomfortable sigh as he met her eyes, 'Look Steph... You're a really great person but-'

'Heya! Fancy seeing you here!' Charlie said in jest, suddenly appearing out of nowhere. 'Um, Steph, Colchester's just around the corner, he said he there's something he wants you to take a look at.'

Steph's face dropped into an expression of disappointment that she did her best to try and hide. 'Oh. Um, okay. Yeah. I guess I'll see you later then, Jordan...' She gave an awkward smile and a little wave  as she left and Charlie returned it with a small smile whilst Jordan shifted uneasily on his feet staring at the ground in embarrassment.

'It's alright. She's gone.' Charlie said after a moment, allowing Jordan to let out a huge sigh of relief.

'Phew. Thank god for Colchester.'

'Actually I made that up entirely. I snuck off for a second and I couldn't help but overhear... So you know, you're welcome for that-'

Charlie was cut off as Jordan cupped his face as crashed his lips against his for a blissful moment.

'Wow, okay. That was totally worth saving your life just now! You know we seem to be making a habit of it now.' Charlie beamed.

'Yeah, I'm kind of into it...' Jordan grinned, taking Charlie's hand as the two continued searching the compound when all of a sudden Charlie led the two of them into a side room having searched most of the main warehouse.

'Look if you wanted to get me alone, all you had to do was ask.' Jordan grinned. 

'Woah, cool your jets big boy. I'm working...'

'What, afraid of doing something a little risque?'

'Nah more so just trying to save the world to be honest. That and the fact that I don't want Steph or Colchester to walk in on us...'

'That all?' Jordan said nonchalantly locking the door behind them. 'Would you look that? Alone at last. Now where were we?'

He wrapped his muscular arms around Charlie, bringing him in for another kiss.

'Woah, wait stop!' Charlie said.

Jordan took a step back. 'Oh come on! Just when I thought you were done with playing hard to get!'

'No, dickface! Look!' Charlie pointed to a load of computer monitors in the next room over that had lights on and appeared to be in operation.

'Guys, get down here. I think we've found what we're looking for...'

The others quickly joined them and they gawped at the obsolete looking computer banks and archaic monitors. 'This lot has stopped the world turning?' Jordan asked, unconvinced.

'Not necessarily. The power source could still be in orbit. This could just be a port for the signal to anchor to, so to speak.' Steph said.

'So what? Do we just turn it off then?' Jake asked reaching for one of the controls.'

'Uh! Now just a second, before we go charging in, do we actually know what any of this does?' Mr Colchester intervened, acting as the voice of wisdom. 'There could be far more to it. And one wrong move who knows what could happen.'

'He's right.' Steph admitted. 'We could destabilise the atmosphere, if we're not careful. One wrong flick of a switch and we could wipe the entire planet and all life on it out of existence!'

'Damned if we do, damned if we don't...' Jordan muttered.

'Sure looks that way.' Jack sighed as cogs were turning in his brain trying to work out how to tackle the task at hand. The group stared puzzled at the controls when the faint sound of screeching tyres could be heard outside.

'Did you hear that?' Charlie said as the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

'Maybe Gwen's here?' Jake suggested.

'Nah sounded more like...' Jack was cut off as the sound of heavy thudding steps grew closer and machine gun fire was heard before a nearby fire exit door burst off its hinges as armed men burst in.

'RUN!' Jack shouted. 

'Who the hell are they?!' Charlie shouted.

'Never mind that now! Just run!' Jordan said taking his hand as they both ran for their lives.

Dodging machine gunfire, the crew dashed across the complex and Steph, Jake and Jack were almost at the SUV when three armed men stepped out of the shadows. Jordan and Charlie were right behind them and Colchester following them closely.

'Wait turn back!' Charlie said, seeing the others' captors, tugging on Jordan's arm to lead them in another direction

"Charlie!" Jordan exclaimed as he noticed one of the gunmen about to turn their weapon on Charlie, taking advantage of the momentary hesitation and he stepped in front of him to shield him with his body. 

A single shot was fired. The bang was piercing. Jordan's eyes widened on impact and he stumbled back into Charlie's arms.

"Jordan!" Charlie shrieked in shock.

Jordan fell to the floor instantly, his body quivering, blood oozing from his open wound, he spluttered as he choked on his own blood as a thin stream began to trickle from the crease of his lips. A crimson pool was quickly spreading around him. Steph, Jack and Jake struggled against their guards' grip as Jordan lay there helpless and bleeding, a single tear running down his face. Colchester stared forlornly, not resisting his capture. Charlie stared blankly as the world silenced around him. For a moment, everything was still. His surroundings blurred, the screams of Steph and Jack, the guilt on Colchester's face and Jordan bleeding out - all of it faded away. The day's events lapsed in his head. This was what his first day at Torchwood had meant - corporate espionage, danger and treason to some extent. It might have just cost one of his colleagues their lives. And despite all the chaos Charlie found it somewhat... thrilling. But one thing was certain - as far as first days go - this was the fucking worst.