MISS COOPER

Chapter 3: Ty Enfys

Part One

Disclaimer: Sadly, nothing belongs to me, other than the Gelbin. Oh, and the pain-in-the-neck new police officer, but you're quite welcome to her; I'd be tempted to chuck cold tea over her.

Author's Note: Please. Sit comfortably. No, really; get a cushion. I've decided to split my Chapter 3 into two parts, largely because it goes on for about ooh...24ish pages in Word. Yeah, I know and so I err thought that reading a chapter that long would be slightly scary. Read this chapter and the next as one long chapter...if you catch my drift. The reason it's such a long chapter is because I'm sorry, in Doctor-style voice, I'm so sorry, but this will be my last update for a while. Not years, but ooh, a month? This is because 'Miss Cooper' must take a back-seat whilst I study for and sit my exams, which is a shame because I LOVE writing it. I will not leave this unfinshed, you have my word on that because I've already written the end giggles in an evil manner, which won't change, regardless of what happened in the S2 finale. Don't worry, I won't spoil it for those who haven't seen it. Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed and added this/me to their alert lists. I do appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this final update;remember the end is NOT nigh, and please do continue reading.


The policeman leant against one of the stone brick pillars that made up the entrance to Ty Enfys, feeling the cool dampness against his back, even through the many layers of his clothing. It was like the walls that had been built round the playground at his old primary school; pebble-dashed, all sharp and rough. He grimaced to himself, remembering the many times he'd taken the skin off his hands and grazed his knees whenever he'd fallen against the walls playing football. He cupped his hands round his lukewarm tea; at some point some one had pushed a stereo foam cup into his hands and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder sympathetically. He vaguely remembered his DI telling him to go home; 'there was nothing he could do', he'd said sadly, but he'd politely refused and insisted upon manning the police cordon that stretched across the double doors, the blue and white police ribbon fluttering in the cold breeze.

He looked over towards the car park, where thirty or so residents; all in various states of mental health sat or stood around looking agitated and confused, wrapped in coats and hospital-style blankets whilst tired and overwrought-looking carers clucked around them, handing out tea and water-bottles, speaking in low consoling voices.

Amongst them, milled a few worried looking members of the public; people who had obviously been visiting friends and family, and a clutch of eager-looking journalists from the local newspaper ferreting around looking for someone to pester.

" Who the hell's this?" said a hostile voice to his left. He looked round to see a young, only recently-trained policewoman frowning over at the gates, where a distinctive, intimidating SUV surged up the drive, spitting gravel and mud everywhere.

" They can't come in here, I thought we'd sealed the place off," she said indignantly, reaching for her radio.

" They're Torchwood," he answered, grimly.


There was a series of clicks, as in a nervous silence, the Torchwood team loaded their magazines into their weapons and checked their equipment.

" Oh, fantastic," said Owen, sarcastically, spotting a large crowd gathered around the entrance, " –a welcoming committee."

Gwen swore under her breath. The last thing they needed was a bunch of hysterical members of the public and disdainful police officers trying to 'help' them do their job.

" Formation?" asked Ianto, looking at Gwen for directions.

How they entered a crime scene was something Jack was very pernickety about. He was adamant that they should never have a strict order, (though somehow Jack always managed to be at the front) so that they were always as unpredictable as possible, and that they never rushed, but walked 'with haste'. Gwen's favourite formation so far had been one Ianto had called ' The Chain', where, after a particularly hellish day during Jack's absence, in which they had all got covered in Weevil vomit, the team had descended on Cardiff Bay's pubs with an almost impolite enthusiasm and after several drinks, Gwen had decided that they should walk, or stumble as it were, back to the Hub in a brand new formation. The four of them had linked arms, and as one, stumbled around the Bay in a haphazard line, attracting many disapproving glances, not least because Gwen and Toshiko had pelted out cheesy 90's pop at the top of their voices; getting the lyrics wrong, of course. The rule had been that you weren't allowed to break the link, under any circumstances. Going round corners had been difficult. Owen had accidentally swung Toshiko into a lamppost. Hardly their most professional display.

Gwen blinked, surprised that Ianto was turning to her for orders and not Jack. She couldn't help but look at Jack, to see what he would make of Ianto's apparent sudden change in loyalty, but his stony expression remained unchanged.

"Err, Owen-in front with Jack," she said, after only a few seconds hesitation. " Followed by Tosh and Ianto; I'll go to the back."

" Weapons out?" asked Owen.

" No," replied Gwen, at the same time as Jack said, " Yes."

During the following silence Owen turned round in his seat to exchange an uneasy look with Toshiko and Ianto. A power struggle…perfect. He looked from Gwen to Jack, who were both staring daggers at each other in the rear-view mirror.

" If we go in there, guns blazing we'll draw attention to ourselves; it'll look suspicious," she reasoned, impatiently.

" Oh yeah- coz ten old dears with their faces digested doesn't look suspicious at all," retorted Jack, scathingly. He was in no mood to have anyone questioning his authority; even Gwen. " We've got a murderous Gelbin in there; how were you planning on capturing it? Giving it a chew-toy and hope it comes along cheerfully? Laying out a bread-crumb trail for it to follow?"

" No," said Gwen, waspishly, "because thanks to you, I've got no idea what sort of creature we're dealing with but…"

" Jack," said Toshiko, shortly, talking to him for the first time since they got in the SUV, " there's members of the public around, we can't go stomping around with guns-we'll start a riot."

Jack looked back at Toshiko, his mouth thinning; he knew she was absolutely right and he was not very happy about it.

" No weapons until we're inside," he said to Owen, looking at him sideways, " we've had more than enough gun-waving today as it is."

Gwen looked as if she was about to say something rude in reply, her eyes flashing furiously, but Ianto elbowed her gently.

"Leave it," he muttered.

As the SUV came to an abrupt halt on the edge of the muddy lawn the five of them got out quickly, slamming their doors behind them, and marched towards the entrance to the rather grim-looking building, with their usual air of imposing self-importance that made them so unpopular with the police.

A few carers and members of the public looked over at the approaching figures with mild interest. The police though, clad in their awful fluorescent jackets and clunky equipment were too used to Torchwood crashing their crime scenes like glorified playground bullies to bother paying them much attention and just shot them dirty looks as they walked past. Bloody Torchwood…

A small but bossy-looking policewoman beside the police cordoned doors was attempting to prevent Jack from getting past the police tape.

" I'm sorry, sir-I'm afraid you can't come through here," she trilled

Jack smiled at her, raising his eyebrows. " Oh, I'm afraid I can." He gestured at Owen, beside him and the rest of his team who were fast approaching. " We're Torchwood."

The policewoman shot him a distasteful look, " I don't care if you're the Queen of bloody Sheba, you're not coming in here mate; this is a crime scene," she said, with a strong Swansea twang.

Jack glared at her, then at the older policeman who came over to her, putting a reassuring hand on her arm.

" It's alright, Rachel; they're Torchwood, they're allowed," he said heavily, shooting Jack a look of intense dislike and lifting the police tape for him.

The policewoman narrowed her eyes at him, suspiciously.

" Who the bloody hell's Torchwood?" she asked, as Owen, Ianto and Toshiko filed past.

" A pain in the arse," answered the policeman, but stopped short as he recognised the slim, dark-haired woman walking towards him…

Gwen made to follow Toshiko through the door, aware of the unfriendly looks she was attracting from the gathered police officers, but a familiar face distracted her.

" Andy?" she said, sounding both surprised, yet genuinely pleased to see him. Her delight was short-lived as she took one look at his ashen face and shaking hands and clasped her arms around him, tightly.

" What's happened?" she asked quietly, she could feel his body trembling.

Andy made a small, pitiful sound into her hair.

" My nana," he said quietly. " She was in here; she was one of the ones who was killed," he choked. Crying at work wasn't something he did often; being a police officer he had had to learn to keep his emotions under control and stay professional, even when he had to be the one to deliver bad news to a heartbroken family, yet something about seeing Gwen, his friend and former colleague, a woman he liked and trusted more than anyone, made his resolve shatter.

" I'm sorry, Andy," she said softly, he voice laden with regret, " I'm so sorry."

He nodded his thanks at her condolences, unable to speak yet and hugged her to him, yet what surprised him was that she seemed to be clinging to him just as desperately as he was holding on to her. He let go of her, taking in her teary eyes and smudged mascara.

" You alright?" he asked, his concern for her momentarily making him forget his own grief. She smiled back at him, unconvincingly and bit her lip.

" Shit day," she said, sniffing, her green eyes betraying the hurt she was feeling. She reached for him again and squeezed her eyes shut; fat tears making their way down her cheeks. " Really shit day." She ignored the gawking policewoman to her left and hugged Andy. It felt comfortable and safe with him. Not that her feelings for him were any more than platonic; he was like an older brother to her more than anything else, but her years of having him as her partner in the police force meant that there wasn't a lot about her that he didn't know; there was nothing that she could successfully hide from him, he could tell when she was keeping stuff from him, knew when she was upset or angry and knew just how to deal with her. Truthfully, he understood her just as well as Jack or Rhys, and today she needed him.

" Gwen," came a brash, American voice from the doorway. "You're keeping us waiting. In. Now," he said, scowling at her.

Reluctantly, Gwen let go of Andy, looking thoroughly distressed.

"I think your Boss needs you," grumbled Andy. Gwen sent a filthy look in Jack's direction then nodded at Andy, awkwardly.

" Wait." Andy caught hold of Gwen's hand as she began to turn away, wiping her eyes, and swung her round to face him again. " Whatever it is that's killed them," he said in a low voice, his eyes hard, " you'll find it, won't you?" He squeezed her hand almost painfully, "Promise me you'll find what killed her."

Gwen swallowed, a little frightened by the hollow conviction in his eyes.

" I will," she said, determinedly meeting his eyes, " I'll find it, I promise."

Andy nodded and let go off her hand, watching her as she walked unhurriedly towards the tall man in the military coat, who was holding the door open for her. He had no doubt that she would stick to her word.


" I'm sorry," said Jack snarkily, as she reached him. " Is your job interrupting your cosy conversations with PC Plod?"

Gwen ignored him, and walked past him into the entrance hall of the nursing home, where Owen, Toshiko and Ianto were gathered around the visitor's register. Owen whistled through his teeth as he scanned the list of visitors' names.

Ben Dover

Idris Feller

Luke Rutherfors

Isabelle Jackson

Simon Poncelet

Majorie Wells

Anna Gibbs

Nicholas Rosser

Gerry Linn

Emma Jones

Rani Nichols

" Ben Dover?" he said, incredulously, " that's just cruel; bad, bad parenting. Who names their kid Ben Dover?" He shook his head at the ridiculous name and flicked through the pages of the visitors book in disgust.

" Very unfortunate," agreed Ianto, tearing his eyes away from the book to study Gwen's face as she came and stood beside him; she looked awful. He was about to say something, but Jack got there first.

" Alright," he said, slipping into Boss-mode. " Ianto; go and sort the Press and public out. Tell them there was a gas leak and that we're dealing with it. Retcon the forensics and the police; we can't let them remember this. Go."

There was none of the usual cheeky banter and flirtatiousness that he normally saved for Ianto as he said this; clearly he was still very sore about what Ianto had said to him back at the Hub, and having Gwen waste his time hugging policemen hadn't improved his mood.

Ianto nodded and walked off, glad that he didn't have to be around Jack when he was in this sort of mood.

" Toshiko-take a photograph of every page of that visitors book; I want to see everyone who's been in and out of here in the last 48 hours."

Toshiko glared at him mutinously; he was her Boss and perfectly entitled to give her orders, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about following them. The way she was feeling at the moment, she didn't want to do anything Jack told her to do; simply because she was still absolutely furious with him. If he had said something was black, she was in the sort of mood where she would've argued back and said it was white.

Nodding, resentfully at his orders she delved into her bag and brought out a digital camera, and then proceeded to do as she was told, muttering angrily to herself in what could be vaguely made out as Japanese.

Jack turned to Owen, who was watching Toshiko like a mildly interesting TV program.

" Owen, once she's finished I want the pair of you to look around the grounds; the gardens, the allotments, everything."

Owen grimaced, mumbling something about Toshiko kicking him in the balls again, quietly.

Jack looked at Gwen, standing there with her hands on her hips, face tear-stained and her mouth set. She reminded him of some sort of wild animal, about to pounce; she was plainly in no better fettle than he was.

"Gwen, with me," he said, unsmilingly.

" No," said Gwen obstinately, her eyes darting over him ferociously.

Both Toshiko and Owen suddenly went very still, stopped what they were doing and listened. A riled-up Gwen and an equally bad-tempered Jack didn't make for a successful pairing. One of them was going to have to give in…

" Gwen, with me," he repeated darkly.

Gwen gave a derisive laugh. " No, Jack, not with you."

Jack stared at her. She was angry; they both were. He was angry with himself and the situation more than anything else. Angry because they'd found out, as he'd known they would. Angry that what Ianto had said was true; that he was acting like Torchwood London; angry that he'd let his team down. Gwen was simply livid because he had lied to them, but then, didn't she have every right to be? Yet, even through her anger, her words seemed to hit him over the head; the way she'd said it, it was with intense dislike, as if she genuinely couldn't stand him. He'd never wanted that; he'd only ever wanted for her, for all of his team actually, to be happy, and safe. It seemed that, in that respect he'd failed. His and Gwen's friendship, or whatever it was they shared, was falling apart.

" Split up," she said bluntly, catching his eye for ooh, a fraction of a millisecond; she gestured to a pair of double doors to the right of the entrance hall, " I'll take the East Wing- you can do whatever you want… you always do."

Her remark was cutting, she realised that, as she pushed open the doors in front of her and strode away from him. Yet, she found that she really couldn't give a…Weevil's foot. He'd made the mistake of underestimating her and Toshiko; allowed himself to believe that she was more faithful and doting to him than she actually was. No matter what she felt for him, (not that she was saying she felt anything for him) she was still second-in-command; a strong, independent member of Torchwood who didn't suffer fools gladly, or liked being treated like a fool either, come to that. He'd made a mistake; he knew he had, but she wasn't going to let him forget it.

She made her way down the corridor; the smell of urine and bleach itching her nose; it reminded her of being in a hospital. The walls on either side of her were drab and grey, decorated with occasional safety posters such as 'Have you washed your hands?' and 'Know your nearest fire exit'. The carpet beneath her feet was white-flecked and thin, spotted with questionable brown stains. The lights above her head were yellow and artificial looking, like the ones in her old primary school, yet they did nothing to brighten up the long, empty corridor; it was dim and silent, which made her feel strangely uneasy.

At the end of the corridor, there was another corridor that branched off from the main one. As soon as she turned onto the corridor she knew, knew that this was where the Gelbin had been; there was a heavy, cloying atmosphere, as if someone had very recently died. Immediately, Gwen reached for the cold smoothness of her gun. Taking a deep breath, she nudged open the first door she came to with her foot and marched into the room, weapon outstretched in front of her.


Jack watched Gwen disappear down the corridor; her shoulders slumped slightly. It wasn't the confident, power walk that he was used to; she was walking like an apprehensive, ten-year-old girl. He had a rotten, inkling feeling that he'd lost the Gwen Cooper he knew some time this afternoon; as soon as Owen had mentioned the Gelbin at lunch, which now seemed like days ago. He closed his eyes; no, he didn't want to think about Gwen and how much he'd hurt her; all he wanted to do was find the bloody Gelbin and make everything alright again.

He looked over at Toshiko and Owen, who were poring over the visitor's book, Toshiko's hair falling in her eyes, Owen leaning over her shoulder, but holding himself stiffly so that no part of him touched her. He knew they'd been listening but were pretending that they hadn't.

Heaving an impatient sigh, he bowled around and threw himself through the double doors opposite to the direction Gwen had just gone in. The paint of which, was cracked and falling off in flakes: the windowpane, mottled and grimy.

He found himself in a poky corridor that smelled strongly of plane food; all plasticky and disgusting. He guessed that lunch today had been some sort of fish pie. Lovely.

He passed a small dining room, where he could see that there were still food spillages on the wipe-clean tablecloth and dirty glassware left on the table; evidently the staff hadn't had time to finish clearing away after the police had evacuated the place.

Wrinkling his nose at the smell, he moved on to the next room; the Day room, where a large TV sat showing a repeat of Gardener's World, surrounded by mismatched armchairs and old newspapers. By the far wall, was a large bookcase filled with tatty-looking books and a handful of cheap IKEA tables. Not in here, he thought to himself; too public…

He went back out into the corridor and leant against the wall, closing his eyes. He couldn't shake off the feeling that he was completely wasting his time. If a Gelbin had been running riot in a nursing home, it wouldn't have ventured into this part of the building; it was too far away. It'd have stayed local. Jack rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. He was willing to bet anything, even his beloved coat that the Gelbin would have attacked in the East wing; it was after all, closer to where….

Jack left his trail of thought unfinished. He turned around and sprinted back down the corridor to the empty entrance hall, where evidently Owen and Toshiko had finished photographing the Visitor's book and crossed the room, flinging himself through the doors to the East wing.

Gwen was in the East wing, he'd realised, with impending horror.

He drew his Webley from its hollister, his feet pounding hard against the floor as he heard Gwen's shriek over his ear-com.


Toshiko and Owen waited for Jack to disappear out of sight down the left-hand side corridor before speaking.

" Oh, they're going to kill each other," said Owen cheerfully, turning a page of the Visitor's book so that Toshiko could take a picture of it.

Toshiko smiled grimly at him, and made a non-committal noise, preferring to stay silent as she worked.

Having worked with her for God knows how long, Owen knew better than to further disturb her whilst she was busy and so made do with sticking his hands in his pockets and studied the endless list of names in front of him, half-heartedly whilst he waited for her to finish.

With a final flash, Toshiko closed the Visitor's book and returned it to its place on the rickety hall table, and replaced the digital camera back in her bag, carefully.

" What," she snapped at Owen, looking up to find him watching her. She didn't like it when people watched her; it reminded her of the times she was made to do her homework under adult supervision. Even as an adult herself it was scarcely less disconcerting.

" Come on," he said, gravely, beckoning with his head for her to follow him outside.

Side by side, they walked past the barrier of police on the door, ignoring the jeers and made their way around the outside of Ty Enfys to the gardens and allotments situated at the back of the building.

Toshiko screwed up her face as she walked, the drizzle had gradually developed into full-blown rain, so she crammed her hands into her jacket pockets, watching where she put her feet, as the concrete path had begun to get slippy.

He led the way to gazebo, in which they sheltered from Cardiff's dismal weather. They stood so that they were leaning on opposite sides of the gazebo, quiet for a moment, grateful to be out of the rain.

" Tosh," said Owen shortly, turning around so that he had his back to her as he leant on the railing, staring at the raindrops pelting the pavement. "I'm…sorry," he said, in a strangled sort of voice. Obviously, saying sorry wasn't something that he was particularly used to. Toshiko gazed at his back, thoughtfully, watching him wringing his hands together; something he did when he was stressed, she noted.

She didn't say anything for a moment. " I thought you didn't do apologies," she said carefully, remembering the time she'd found flowers on her desk with a note from Owen, which he'd vehemently denied sending.

Owen shrugged his shoulders, for once, at lost for something to say.

" I don't," he replied, turning around to face her.

Toshiko could see that, whatever he had on his mind was causing him great difficulty. He ran a hand through his short hair, before bringing it down to his side in a clenched fist, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, as if he'd been about to say something but thought better of it.

He didn't know what had made him drag her out here; as he had watched Toshiko take pointless picture after pointless picture of the pages in that book, a feeling of recklessness had taken over him and the guilt that he'd felt for so long at lying to Toshiko and Gwen finally became too much. He was too ashamed of himself; not something he felt very often, but he knew that he had to tell Toshiko…he couldn't pretend to search the grounds for something that he knew perfectly well wasn't there; it wasn't fair on her. She deserved so much more respect than that, he realised; both her and Gwen.

How would she react? She was definitely more restrained than Gwen; who wore her heart on her sleeve; her eyes too near her bladder but Toshiko, ever the professional…perhaps this was what it would take to break her resolve? He was no good with crying females…

"I should have told you and Gwen about the Gelbin," he said finally, with what looked like remorse etched on his face. " I'm sorry."

Toshiko raised her eyebrows at him.

" You should have," she said stiffly, glowering at him.

Owen held up his hands in apology before regarding her carefully, his dark eyes serious.

" Oh…stuff what Jack says," he muttered , as if trying to talk himself into something. " Tosh," he said slowly, " the Gelbin that we brought into the Hub yesterday didn't come through the Rift; you're right. It was stupid to think you wouldn't work it out…it escaped from the labs."

Toshiko stared at him, not quite able to comprehend what he was saying, waiting for him to explain himself.

" What labs?" she asked, sure that she wasn't going to like the answer.

She was right; she wasn't.

" The Torchwood labs," he said, quietly

" Wha-"

" Torchwood has these…secret labs," he said heavily, not looking at her. " I've only been twice," he hurried on, seeing the outraged look on her face. " Last year, Jack came to me because he needed an injection making up, needed my 'medical expertise' as he put it, for several of the creatures in the high-security labs. He said if I told you lot I'd be out on my ear so…I kept my mouth shut."

Toshiko paled, her mouth felt very wooly and she had a horribly sick feeling in her stomach.

" What are the labs for? she asked shakily, staring at him beseechingly.

" Torture," he said flatly, looking up at the grey sky rather than face the shock and pain in her eyes, but with one quick glance at her, he moved forward quickly to grip her by the forearms; she looked dangerously close to fainting.

" What?" she asked, weakly, looking utterly astounded.

" There's about sixteen Gelbi locked up in our labs that were transferred from Torchwood One after the battle of Canary Wharf. They need regular injection top-ups every four weeks," he said, sounding like he would rather chew off his own arm then tell her this. As hard as he had been trying to block out the memory, an image of the dark, damp underground prison filled with large cages holding howling aliens that acted as the labs filled his head. It was hauntingly vivid.

" What sort of injections?" whispered Toshiko, her fingers digging into his arm.

He hesitated, unsure of whether to tell her more, but figured that seeing as he'd started, he may as well tell her the whole truth. Well…everything he knew, anyway; he doubted even that was the full story.

" P40…it's this acidic solution used to…cause them discomfort; the equivalent of injecting humans with cyanide," he said, gently; it was the best analogy he could come up with, " it's strong enough so that they experience surreal amounts of pain, but not strong enough to kill them."

" Oh my God," gasped Toshiko, gazing at him in horror. " Oh my God...oh my God." She brought a shaking hand up to her mouth, trying to fight the bile that was threatening to rise in her throat, her eyes as wide as saucers.

She stumbled over to the side and was horribly sick onto the lawn, tears coursing down her cheeks as Owen held back her hair, rubbing her back.

It took a while before she was composed enough to speak.

" Why?" she said, at last, staring up at him.

Torture was something she associated with evil and tyrants…not Torchwood; not the beloved organization she loved so much…not with Jack. Never with Jack. She couldn't bring herself to believe that Jack would order Owen to make up a solution to harm aliens, or that Owen would actually follow those orders.

"Punishment, I think... Jack never told me," said Owen, looking at her reproachfully, " but he insisted he had a concrete good reason." He looked dubious.

Toshiko wrapped her arms around herself in a futile attempt to keep warm, shivering from the cold and the shock.

" You trusted him?" she asked, balefully.

Seeing her shiver, Owen took off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, stalling for time.

He shrugged. " I had to."

They both fell silent for a moment whilst Toshiko considered what he'd said.

" I think it's got something to do with this mysterious Doctor friend of his," he continued, shuffling his feet. He was bluffing, of course; he had no idea what Jack's 'good reason' might be, but his 'Doctor' was something he'd always remained fiercely tight-lipped about and…well, in all honesty he hadn't had any further thoughts on that front but…it was an idea. Albeit a bad one.

Toshiko sniffed, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. Would any reason ever be good enough to excuse torture? She'd studied Utilitarianism and Situation Ethics in Ethics lessons at school, but it was never a subject she'd ever been very good at; she was very methodical- what she loved about maths, science and computers was that there was always an answer; always a rigid way of doing things, no matter how complicated. Ethics was too flighty a subject for her really, but did she need an A-level in it to be able to determine whether torture was wrong or not? She didn't think so. She didn't think it could ever be condoned.

"So, two Gelbi escaped from the labs," she prompted, trying to keep her voice from breaking.

Owen nodded. " A male and a female. Jack discovered the day before yesterday that two had escaped, but didn't know how. We found one yesterday, obviously, and it looks like the other one has been running around here killing pensioners. Nasty little bugger."

Toshiko stared at her shoes; patent Anna Sui's, trying to absorb what Owen was saying.

" Why are you telling me this," she asked quietly, almost despondently. "If Jack told you not to?"

Owen clucked his tongue, his brow furrowed. Why? Why did he have to have a legitimate reason? He just didn't like lying to her that was all. Nothing more.

" You speak in gobbledygook most of the time, Tosh," he said, looking side-ways at her, " but you're not bad for a brainy bird. You've got your head screwed on, heart in the right place and all that," he went on, going slightly pink. She didn't think she'd ever heard him sound so uncomfortable. She noticed, too, that he was fiddling with the zip on his jacket as he said this.

"Didn't want to lie to you anymore, alright?" he concluded, sheepishly, " you've got a hell of a kick on you and I don't fancy getting another kick to my misters. I'd like to be able to have children at some point, thanks very much."

Toshiko smiled to herself, despite what he'd just said. Coming from Owen, who usually kept his emotions and feelings completely to himself; hearing his half-hearted compliments meant a lot.

" I'm not saying I want to marry you, or anything," he said quickly, seeing the look on her face and getting flustered. Very un-Owen like.

" I know," Toshiko assured him, blushing scarlet.

An awkward silence fell between them; there were plenty of things they wanted to say to each other, but didn't feel able to. For now, a shared silence would have to do.

"Thank you," said Toshiko, softly, looking not at him, but at the falling rain.

In response, Owen put a tentative arm around her shoulders and patted her back gruffly,

" Eurgh," he cringed, " you smell like puke, love," he wrinkled his nose, pretending to push her away.

Toshiko, though had gone suddenly still; her mind whirring, reliving what Owen had just told her, " I've only been twice…"

" Where are they?" she asked, tersely.

Owen made a face at her; she was tiny, but that didn't stop her from being intimidating; especially when she was looking severely at him, like some sort of schoolteacher, the way she was now.

" Where are what? The good people gone?" he retorted, confused, a song lyric popping into his head for no apparent reason.

" The labs!" said Toshiko, impatiently, " you just said you'd been in them twice; where are they?"

Owen stared at her as if she was mad, spreading his arms out, like the answer was obvious.

" They're here, Tosh," he said, with the air of someone talking to an overly emotional two year old. " Torchwood's secret labs are based here, underneath Ty Enfys Nursing Home."

In the resounding silence, as Toshiko gazed at him open-mouthed, they both heard a terrible high-pitched shriek in their ear-com's.

" Gwen!" they shouted together. Wrenching open the gazebo's door, they pelted across the lawn and criss-crossing pathways in the direction of the main building, all thoughts of labs temporarily abandoned.

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