Chapter Text
Ianto opened the doors to the underground carpark and let in a rather nice porsche, gesturing to where it should be parked. The drivers side door opened and a very well dressed woman stepped out. She gave him a warm smile.
“It’s been too long.” Martha said, opening her arms to offer a hug.
He gave her a quick squeeze. “It has. How was the drive?”
“Long. I love the new look, very rugged.” She gestured to his neatly trimmed beard.
“I call it my Jack keeps hogging the bathroom in the morning look.”
“Ahh, I never thought he’d be the prissy type.”
“He’s been obsessing over the three grey hairs he found, remembering I’m one step from having stripes.”
“If it helps, you wear it well.”
“Thank you. You didn’t say who you were bringing.”
“I wanted it to be a surprise.” She chuckled. The man in the passenger seat stood and stretched before giving a polite nod. “This is Mickey. My husband, partner in alien fighting and also an ex travelling companion to the Doctor.”
Ianto offered his hand to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, I'm Ianto. I’m sure Jack will be happy to see you.”
“Wait… Jack?” Mickey shook Iantos hand. “There’s no way he’s still here.”
Martha began chuckling to herself. “Come on, we should go and say hello to the others.”
Jack swept out of his office as he heard the door open and the sound of footsteps he wasn’t familiar with. He’d been very curious as to who Martha had decided to bring as she’d been quite secretive. If it wasn’t her he would have stopped it but he trusted her as much as he did his own team. He grinned broadly as he realised why.
“Mickey mouse.” He announced.
Mickey grinned. “Captain Cheesy.” They hugged like old friends should upon seeing each other for the first time in years. “You haven’t changed a bit.”
“You can’t improve on a classic.”
“You could try.”
“Welcome to Torchwood three.”
Mickey looked around the cavernous central area of the hub. “I still can’t believe you joined Torchwood, here, in the twenty first century. I thought Martha was winding me up.”
“Joined? I run Torchwood, thank you very much. It’s completely different from what it was in any world.”
“It looks it.”
Martha hooked her arm around her husbands arm. “Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Gwen Cooper. Police liaison and voice of sense.”
“You’d think it would catch on but no.” Gwen smiled brightly.
“Over there is Toshiko Sato, computer genius and the bane of UNITs IT department.”
Tosh chuckled. “They just need to improve their security.”
“And waltzing up from the medical bay like he didn’t hear us is Dr Owen Harper. Expert in all things biological.”
“And the current winner of the name that alien organ game.”
“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”
“Methane bladder, terasquion plasma sack. Practically the same thing. Granted, one would explode into flames if it’s moved too quickly and the other stinks like a pub loo, but still.” He smirked.
Melody took the three misfiled folders, last used by a certain captain, and tucked them under her arm. They needed to go back to a part of the archive she didn’t have the clearance for, so she’d just have to hand them off. She’d actually enjoyed helping keep the archives in order while Ianto was busy sorting out a meeting with someone from UNIT. It had to be important with all the messages he’d been getting. She double checked that she hadn’t knelt in a patch of dust and tidied her hair, using the small window in the door as a mirror. If she was going to be seen by whoever this was she didn’t want to make a bad impression. With the folders held to her chest, arms wrapped around them, she made her way up. She could feel two new minds and could hear people talking. It sounded like a positive conversation so that was a good start. She got to the top of the stairs and glanced around, knowing they had to be sitting up near Owens desk by how clearly she could hear them talking. She couldn’t just leave the folders by the coffee machine but she didn’t want to intrude.
“Is everything ok?” Ianto asked, spotting her as he was heading over to the coffee machine.
She shook off her surprise. “Um, I’m fine. These files need to go into a higher access area.”
“Oh, no problem. I’ll put them away in a bit.” He took the folders from her and placed them to the side. “You should join us.”
No longer holding anything she didn’t know what to do with her hands anymore, defaulting to playing with her necklace. “I wouldn’t want to intrude. When you get the chance could you ask Owen if he wants me to find a different rat supplier for now? There’s going to be a delay with his usual once due to an incident with a nervous mother rat and an escapee male. If it’s not urgent then it shouldn’t be too long of a wait but I don’t know if he has anything planned.”
“You could tell him yourself.” He looked over at her to see her studying her shoes intently. “They don’t bite. You’re not usually this nervous around people.”
“Sorry. It’s just new people actually in here. Important people. I don’t want to get in the way, or be noticed at all if possible.”
“Relax. They’re friends. We’ve worked with Martha before and Jack knows Mickey from his time with the Doctor.”
“That makes it worse, you all know each other. Isn’t there anything else I can do in the archives for now? I can vacuum?”
“If you can make it past without being noticed you can hide up in the office if you want.”
“Can I at least get a distraction?”
He laughed softly. “Says the woman who’ll face down the scum of the universe and order it to leave.”
“Aliens I can deal with. Humans I can’t.”
He smiled sympathetically. “Go on.”
“Fine.” She sighed, defeated. The cog door was open so maybe she had a chance if she was quiet enough. She’d almost made it when she heard Jack clear his throat.
She turned to see him with a slightly mischievous smile on his face. “Um… I was just…”
“This is Melody, Iantos assistant and accomplished telepath.” He said.
Her cheeks flushed a bright red in embarrassment and she managed a small wave. “Hello.” She squeaked out.
“Hi. I’m Martha and this is my husband Mickey. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
“The telepaths I’ve met have always been in their late thirties, how long have you been active?”
“Since I was... um... four.”
“That’s… I’ve never heard of that before. The youngest I ever heard of was thirteen.”
“That’s usually when it kicks in. Owen’s been studying my telepathy for a while if you’re interested.” She relaxed a little as she wasn’t getting any nasty thoughts from the woman. She seemed to be legitimately curious.
“If you’re ok with me seeing it. It’ll be attached to your medical records and everything.”
“That’s fine, though I should probably warn you that my records are a bit… um… Torchwood.”
“Oh? Sorry, I should ask any questions in private.”
“No, it’s ok. I don’t mind. It can just be a bit unnerving without prior warning. Anyway, I should let you get back to catching up and discussing what’s happening with Osiris and such.”
“Actually-” Jack interjected, “being as you’re the one who’s been having the visions I want you here for that discussion.”
“I don’t know what help I’ll be. I’ve already reported everything I know, but I’ll try.”
After being filled in on what was going on with Osiris Martha took the opportunity to talk to Owen about his telepathy study. She followed him down to the medical bay where he still had half of his paper notes and could show her much more detailed images with the projector.
“Melody’s a bit …”
“Afraid of her own shadow?” He said, switching on the projector. “She’s usually not that nervous. It’s a mix of new people in the hub and it only being a week since she spent a lot of time with a dead dalek, a dead waiter, a killer robot and an Osiris agent who tried to kidnap her.”
“This dalek was mentioned earlier. How did you manage to deal with it?”
“Mel told it to die, so it did.”
She looked away from the projection on the wall to give him a sceptical look. “Oh come on, I’ve worked with telepaths, they can’t just puppet a body to that level.”
“Maybe yours can’t but ours can. Take a look at this.” He brought up the recordings of Melodys active brain scans. “Ever managed to get working scans from your lot?”
She stared up at the footage. “Yea, but it was nothing like this. Her brain shouldn’t be able to cope like that, let alone be functional.”
“She had a problem with it diverting control from the medula oblongata, making her blood pressure spike, but I’ve managed to fix that.”
“The only time I’ve ever seen anything like this was a man in his twenties with advanced telekinesis abilities but his other cognitive functions were next to nothing. Is she one hundred percent human?”
“Yep. Well, other than the spinal implants, but they came after. It's all in her records.”
“Is she safe here? If that kind of power got into the wrong hands-”
“We’re keeping a close eye on her. Anyway, the only people who know that much about her are us, Jack made sure of that. To the rest of the world she’s just Melody the office worker, likes heavy metal, hello kitty and going on long walks.”
“The Osiris agent, how did they survive?”
“She was exhausted and scared. If he’d really hurt her he wouldn’t have stood a chance, but if she doesn’t feel like she’s in mortal danger she holds back.”
“Can I have a copy of this?”
“No chance, sorry. This information doesn’t leave our system.”
“Do you mind if I spend some time looking through it?”
“Go ahead. Mel gave you her permission so it’s fine.”
Mickey had started the day a bit unsure about this whole trip but it had been worth it after all. Though Jack didn’t look any different he did seem a lot more relaxed. He’d always had this slight edge to him, like he was always waiting for something to crash the party, but that had dulled. He was happier, not always putting on a persona, and somehow brighter for it.
“Why here then? I thought you’d be off partying your way around the universe.” Mickey said.
The captain let a little sadness show in his eyes before it was swept away by something else. Something warmer. “I thought I’d give settling down a go.”
“Yea, but here? Why not a beach or somewhere a bit less dreary.”
“Well, someone needed to keep an eye on the rift. Anyway, it’s not exactly about the place. It’s the people.” His eyes wandered to where Ianto was placing the freshly washed coffee mugs away. There it was again, that warmth.
Mickey couldn’t hide the smile that rose up as the realisation hit. “Oooh, right, now I understand.”
“Huh?”
“It isn’t just the people. It’s a person.”
He laughed. “Am I that obvious?”
“Maybe not to most people, but yea. Are you two an item?”
“They are even if they don’t say it around anyone else.” Said Tosh from her desk. “Have been for quite a while now. I think the last time Martha was here it was unofficial?”
Jack rolled his eyes but he couldn’t exactly hold it against her. Their stance wasn’t exactly clear to everyone but themselves. Neither had wanted to tempt fate, but after Owen nearly died things had changed. They’d all had close calls before, especially the young doctor, but this was one he hadn’t walked into. He’d been seconds from death and if Martha hadn’t been as skilled as she was or there wasn’t an ambulance literally on site there was no chance he’d have seen the next sunrise. It just showed them that fate had already been tempted. It didn’t matter if things were official or not. Just being connected to Torchwood put a kind of target on your back no matter what you did, so why not be clear about things.
“We made it official around the time you and Owen started dating didn’t we?” He teased.
She smiled, not looking over at him. “We must have made a good example.”
Mickey couldn’t help but laugh. It was nice, almost nostalgic.
Gwen leaned on the tourist information office counter. “So, I know you were busy earlier so I couldn’t ask but-”
“I’m ok.” Melody smiled softly. “Your friends seem nice.”
“They are. Hopefully Martha can convince UNIT to help us out. If not then this is going to be really difficult to deal with.”
“I’ll help if I can.”
“If you’re feeling more yourself by then.”
“Gwen I’m… I’m…”
“Not ok?”
“I’m just a bit on edge. I’ve always relied on my telepathy to protect me but… The other day made it very clear that it isn’t enough. You know, I’ve actually been trying to exercise so I can try learning some self defence again.”
“That’s great. I’d be happy to help when you’re feeling a bit more in shape.”
“You’ll be waiting a while. I keep just ending up on the floor, trying to catch my breath.”
“Then you’re pushing yourself too hard. Slow it down a bit and you’ll get there. If it helps, you’re in much better condition than you were a few months ago.”
“Shame it didn’t help me.” She sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “Sorry. I’m being a real buzz kill today, aren’t I. Just give me a few more days and I’m sure I’ll feel better.”
A loud thud on the outer door made both women jump. Gwen opened the door and looked around for someone throwing rocks, kicking a football, anything that could explain what had caused it. At first she didn’t see anything but as she examined the outside of the door she saw a small blood stain where the wooden door had a small dent. By her feet lay a dead seagull. Another thud, further away caught her attention. Another bird had fallen from the sky and hit the pavement. One after another a whole flock of birds fell out of the sky, stone dead, not even trying to slow their descent. She couldn’t see what had caused it or where it stopped. Even in the distance she could see tiny black dots falling.
“What the hell?” Breathed Melody, standing in the doorway.