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Wishverse 1.07 - Part 3 of 6
Title: The Many Departures of Gwen Cooper
Author: Soledad
Fandom: Torchwood
Category: Heavy-duty Gwen bashing.
Rating: 14+, just to be on the safe side.
Genre: Romance/Angst, for this part. Plus some dark humour.
Series: Wishverse.
Warning: repeated character death(s) in each chapter.
Timeframe: "Greeks Bearing Gifts". Major spoilers. This is an AU, though.
Summary: Many different ways to get rid of Gwen Cooper, while keeping the episodes as canonical as possible.
Disclaimer: the usual: don’t own, don’t sue! Everything belongs to RTD and BBC. I used a great deal of rewritten original dialogue, though.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
EPISODE 07 – GIFT HORSES, Part 3
Author’s notes: Continued from Part 2. Obviously.
This story will be posted in several short parts rather than in one big chunk, as it serves better the development of the relationship(s).
The Mermaid’s Dream is not a really existing pub.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
On the next two evenings Andy didn’t go to his favourite pub. Somehow he knew Toshiko wouldn’t be there; she’d gone all deer-in-the-headlights when that Mary character walked in and seemed to forget everything else. Perhaps she’d been serious, saying that she’d try her luck with girls for a change. Or perhaps that Mary person was doing some hypnotic mumbo-jumbo on her. Perhaps that pendant he’d seen her wearing for a short while had something to do with it.
Andy had Yvonne run a search on a Mary; age: late twenties or early thirties, slim, blonde, smoking a lot. He had Yvonne look for frauds matching that description cos he was certain that she had to be some sort of swindler. The search brought up forty-seven possible matches. He read their files after work, every single one of them; studied the pictures that came with the files. Toshiko’s Mary wasn’t among them.
On the second day he asked Yvonne to extend the search to all known blonde female frauds of the approximately same age, regardless of the name. The extended search brought up a hundred and thirty-eight other possible suspects. Andy got their files, too, read them and checked their photos. Again, Toshiko’s Mary wasn’t among them.
“What are you looking for anyway?” Desk Sergeant Bronowski asked, seeing him buried in old files. “Who’s this chick you try to find?”
“I’m not sure,” Andy replied slowly. “She’s been cruising around someone I happen to know, and I’m a tad worried.”
“Worried about what?” the Sergeant asked. Andy shrugged.
“Dunno. It’s just a gut feeling, you know? I have this feeling that she’s up to no good, and I’m worried about that lady I know.”
“Oh-oh,” Bronowski’s small eyes began to sparkle with interest. “A special someone, isn’t she?”
Andy shook his head. “Not that way; I barely know her. ‘Sides, she’s way above my league, I’m afraid.”
“Where do you know her from?” Bronowski asked.
“She’s Torchwood,” Andy explained. “We ran into each other a couple of times at various crime scenes.”
“She works with Gwennie?” Bronowski snorted and shook his head in compassion. “Well, that surely lessens your chances, lad. She’d have a very low opinion about the constabulary by now. Which would be a real shame, but hardly surprising.”
They shared a good laugh at Gwen’s expense; then Andy gathered the files and took them all back to the filing cabinet.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He intended to continue his search in the countless pubs and bars during patrol duty on the third day. It was part of his job to check those places regularly, which would give him both the opportunity and the excuse to look out for his personal suspect. But after only two hours into shift, they were called to secure a crime scene.
When he got to the house – a rather nice one, with a glass door – two uniformed colleagues were leading away a hand-cuffed man in his mid-thirties. The man seemed ordinary enough, like any other bloke one could see on the streets, but there was something not-quite-sane in his dark eyes… something that made Andy shiver.
A slim woman with short dark hair and a kid of about ten or twelve – clearly their son – were being questioned by various plain-cloth detectives. The woman seemed scared out of her wits, alternately sobbing and screaming at the suspect, while the kid wore that sour expression with which boys of his age usually reacted to adult people’s hysterics.
There was a team of paramedics as well, since the handcuffed man seemed to have suffered some kind of head injury, if the bandage was any indication. There was some blood on the floor, but not much, so the injury couldn’t have been too bad. One of the crime scene investigators was examining a bloodied golf club, taking fingerprints and blood samples for further investigations. Another one was doing the same with a two-barrelled rifle, after having removed the bullets.
“What’s happened?” Andy asked Crime Scene Investigator Cochrane, a scruffy little Welsh guy whom he knew quite well. He’d often worked with the man before being cursed with Gwen as a partner and they’d used to get along just nicely.
“Your usual, run-of-the-mill family drama,” Cochrane replied with a shrug. “Apparently, the bloke whom your mates have just arrested is the ex-husband of the lady,” he nodded in the direction of the slightly hysterical woman. “He doesn’t seem to deal well with the fact that she’s with another man now and even plans to get married again. So he decided to shoot both his ex and his kid, rather than losing them.”
“The sick bastard,” Andy commented in disgust. “Did he injure them? The blood on the floor…”
“… is his,” Cochrane said. “Some young chick heard him muttering to himself about how he was gonna kill them. She became suspicious, followed him to the house, and when he pulled the gun, she crashed down the golf club on his head.”
“That was civil courage if I’ve ever seen it,” Andy said, impressed.
Cochrane nodded. “Yeah. If there were more people like her, we’d have less murder victims to deal with.”
“Who’s she?” Andy asked.
Cochrane shrugged, finishing his work on the gun and put it into a plastic bag. “Dunno. Some Asian chick. Freaking cute, though. Inspector Henderson’s talking to her right now.”
Andy looked in the direction Cochrane had vaguely gestured at, and through the open door of another room he saw Detective Inspector Henderson, a big, burly guy, built like a brick shithouse, with hands of the size of coal shovels, looking even larger in his trademark, sand-coloured trenchcoat and sloppy hat, talking to a woman who barely reached to his chest. The woman had dark hair, glasses and wore a dark jacket over her green top. She seemed a little upset, but not as much as someone who’d just prevented the slaughter of an entire family ought to be.
Considering the fact that the woman was no-one else but Dr. Toshiko Sato from Torchwood, though, it perhaps wasn’t all that surprising. Torchwood agents were used to deal with things that would scare ordinary people to death.
But even so, the thought of her actively following a would-be murderer and dealing with him on her own made Andy uncomfortable. Ladies like her shouldn’t deal with scum. That was what police was for. He inched closer to the door, hoping to hear something about the case itself. Based on what Cochrane had already told him, it must have been an upsetting one.
“So, you’ve heard him muttering to himself, “Inspector Henderson was saying when Andy got within earshot. “What exactly did he say?”
“At first, he repeated ‘I'm gonna kill them’ over and over again,” the gentle voice of Toshiko answered. “Then he said something about laying their bodies outside, and lying next to them, so that he’d have to do himself lying down. So I reckon that he wanted to kill himself, too. He was even worried about not having practiced it lying down. That it might not work out the way he’d planned.”
“And the thought to call the police didn’t even occur to you?” Inspector Henderson asked. “Or are you Torchwood typed fighting common crimes in your spare time nowadays?”
“It wasn’t like that,” she replied, almost apologetically. “I… I just went with my instincts, I guess. Besides, I couldn’t see any uniformed cops around, and looking for one would have me lose the suspect.”
“Well, it was a brave thing to do in any case,” Henderson said. “A brave – and foolish thing. You could have gotten hurt easily. The man was a head taller than you are.”
Andy snickered, realizing that Toshiko, being small and cute as a button, must have brought out the male protective instinct of all big men – especially as large ones as the inspector. He felt the same effect on himself, to tell the truth.
She must have known it, too, because she smiled.
“Inspector, nearly all men I’ve met in my life were at least a head taller than I am,” she pointed out. “Don’t let my size fool you; I’m a trained field agent and can take care of myself very well. Besides, I hit the guy on the head from behind – he never knew I was even there. The only people really in danger were his ex-wife and their kid.”
“Still, attacking him with a golf club while he had a gun…”
“I’ve got a gun, too,” Toshiko interrupted. “Complete with a licence to use it if I think it’s necessary. But if I’d started to shoot around me, the woman and the kid might have gotten caught in the crossfire and hurt, perhaps even killed. It was safer this way.”
“I’m heavily impressed nonetheless,” Henderson said. “We’re gonna send your boss a report with our thanks.”
“Really, that’s not necessary…”
“No, no, I insist. It doesn’t happen every day that a civilian would show so much courage… or so much skill.”
“That’s because technically, I’m not a civilian,” Toshiko replied. “I’m dealing with stuff on a daily basis that’s a lot worse than mere homicidal ex-husbands.”
“Is that so?” Henderson asked mildly. “Why are your hands shaking, then?”
Toshiko looked down at her hands. They were shaking badly indeed. Not that Andy would blame for that. Other women (like Gwen) would have been in hysterics, having gone through the same, demanding to be comforted.
“It’s just nerves,” she said dismissively.
“Perhaps,” Henderson allowed. “I’d still find it better if you didn’t drive just now.
He looked around and spotted Andy who was pretending he hadn’t listened to their conversation with... moderate success.
“Constable…”
“Davidson, sir,” Andy supplied. The inspector nodded.
“Right, I remember now. Well, Constable Davidson, I want you to take the lady home… or to her workplace, whichever she’d prefer.”
“But sir, I’m supposed to secure the crime scene here,” Andy reminded him. He’d have liked nothing more than play the cavalier to Toshiko, but there were such things as regulations.
“You’re relieved,” Henderson said. “We’ve done the interviews, crime scene investigation is all but finished… your partner can deal with the rest alone. Just get her safely home.”
“Yes, sir,” Andy turned to Toshiko. “Shall we, Dr. Sato?”
“You know each other?” Henderson asked in surprise.
Andy shrugged. “We run into each other from time to time. My former partner works for them now.”
Henderson shook his head in honest amazement. “Gwen Cooper? Yeah, I’ve heard about that from Swanson, but I still can’t imagine what could have ridden Captain Harkness to hire someone like her… aside from invasive, illegal hypnosis or mind-altering drugs, that is.”
“Hormones, perhaps,” Andy supplied.
“No way,” Henderson said firmly. “It must have been a hypnotic suggestion. Hormones can’t be that strong.”
Toshiko snickered. “The Captain said once that she reminded him of a bug-eyed, tentacled alien he used to be intimate with,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. “Of course, we can never tell when he’s joking.”
Andy nodded sagely. “That would explain a lot,” he commented. “Like I said: hormones.”
Henderson blinked a few times, trying to decide whether they were pulling his leg or not. Then he probably decided that it had, indeed, been a joke, even if he still didn’t get it, because, frankly, the alternative would just be too weird to consider, even from someone who worked for Torchwood.
“All right, Constable,” he said. “We all had our laugh; now, why don’t you take the lady home?”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Toshiko wasn’t particularly thrilled by the idea of being ferried home by police car, Andy could see that. But the inspector clearly wasn’t ready to back off from his chivalrous intent, so she went with Andy without further objection.
“I’m glad he had the common sense to pick you, “she said. “At least you know I don’t need to be treated like some fragile flower.”
“Perhaps,” Andy said noncommittally. “But you might want to talk about it. We could make a little detour to the pub and…”
“No,” she said quickly. “Not that pub. I… I don’t think I’d wish to go there again. Ever.”
Oh-oh, Andy thought, that date must not have gone too well last night! So much about trying her luck with girls.
“There are many other pubs in town,” he said simply.
She hesitated for a moment, clearly warring with herself.
“All right,” she finally decided,” pick one. I… I think I really need to wind down a bit.”
Andy took her to the Mermaid’s Dream, one of the older, more traditional-looking pubs near Roald Dahl Plass. It wasn’t his preferred watering hole, but one he’d visited with his dad a few times, whenever they needed to talk.
“It isn’t very flashy,” he apologized, “but it’s usually quiet at this time, and we can have some privacy.”
It was a quiet place indeed, with wood panelling on the walls, everything coloured in brown and beige; a bit boring-looking, actually. There were only a few people drinking in the other boxes and talking in low tones, and someone playing on the flashing slot machine behind them. Definitely not a place where a lady of her class would go on her own, but it matched their purposes perfectly.
Andy went to the bar and ordered a gin tonic for Toshiko and a lemonade for himself. He was still on duty, after all.
“So,” he said, placing their drinks on the table and taking the chair opposite her. “What happened? I mean, what really happened? Cos all that stuff about the suspect talking to himself about murdering his whole family is just rubbish, and you know that.”
“Do I?” she asked softly, nursing her drink.
Andy snorted. “Oh, please! You aren’t talking to Gwen Cooper here, remember? I might not be a detective, but I’m not stupid. And I’ve been with the police long enough to know that if someone’s about to commit multiple homicides, they don’t talk about it to themselves aloud while they’re in the street. Unless they’re complete nutcases – and that bloke wasn’t nuts. Well, he was, of course, but not in the way of being an idiot. More on the slightly obsessed side, I reckon.”
“Andy,” she said gently, “you’re babbling.”
He gave her e bashful smile. “I am, aren’t I? You do have that effect on me every time. Anyway, what I meant is that no way would that bloke have rambled aloud. So, how did you figure out what he was up to? Used some kind of super-secret mind-reading gadget?”
He’d meant it as a joke and was greatly surprised by the look of utter shock on her face.
“Oh my God!” he whispered. “You did it, didn’t you? Are you Torchwood guys doing that all the time? Spying on other people’s private thoughts? Cos it’s not only illegal and against personal rights, you know; it’s immoral, too.”
“I know,” she replied tonelessly. She seemed deeply ashamed about it. “I… I didn’t know the pendant would do that when Mary first gave it me.”
“The pendant?” Andy started to understand things. “The one made of green crystal? The one I saw you when I ran into you in the other pub the second time? So it isn’t actually a Torchwood item, is it?”
She shook her head. “It was a… a gift. More of a course, now that I think about it.”
“Because you learned what other people think about you?” Andy asked. “You really shouldn’t be bothered by such things. Most people are idiots anyway.”
“No,” she said. “Because I’ve been spying on my friends. And it makes me feel dirty and ashamed. As you said: it’s illegal, it violates other people’s privacy, and therefore it’s immoral, too.”
Andy shrugged. “You can always choose not to use it. Or to give it back.”
“I could, I guess,” she agreed reluctantly. “Unless… unless I came to the conclusion that it would e even more dangerous in her hands than in mine.”
“And would it?” Andy asked. “Do you really think she’s dangerous?”
Toshiko didn’t answer at once, but her face was gradually getting clouded with sorrow.
“I don’t know,” she finally said. “I wish I could say no, but I just don’t know.”
“And yet you took her home with you on that second night.” It wasn’t a question, but Toshiko nodded anyway. “Why?”
“I’ve read her thoughts. She… she wanted me,” Toshiko stared at her drink dejectedly. “It has been a long time since anyone really wanted me.”
“Perhaps you just turned that bloody thing in the wrong direction,” Andy replied quietly. “What if she deceived you? Some people can have amazing control over their thoughts; what if she only let you see what she knew you wanted to see?”
Her eyes turned to him, hurt, accusing. “Are you trying to ruin this for me?”
“No,” he answered. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. You need to be careful.”
“Being careful never brought me anything else but loneliness and even more work,” she returned bitterly. “So what if she only uses me? I use her, too; it’s not so as if I’d fallen in love, all of a sudden. I still get something good out of it; more, in fact, than I’ve had out of being rational for years! Besides, what could she possibly want from me? Aside from the obvious, that is.”
“I don’t know,” Andy admitted. “Who’s she anyway, and where did she get that bloody pendant from?”
“She’s a scavenger,” Toshiko shrugged. “Someone who collects alien artefacts, just like we do. She says the pendant has been in her family for a very long time.”
“And yet she gave it to you?” Andy found that more than a little suspect. “Just like that, out of the blue?”
Toshiko shrugged again. “She says she’s had it for too long. It might get addictive after a while, I reckon. It does give you a heady feeling of power, you know.”
“I can imagine,” Andy said. “And yet she gave it to you. Enabled you to hear the sometimes petty thoughts of your friends. What for? Is she trying to alienate you from them, so that you’d be under her influence alone? But why?”
“I don’t see any reason,” she said. “She already knows about Torchwood, knows who we are and what we do. She saw us at the site where we found that skeleton… and the strange alien artefact we still don’t know what might be.”
“Then it’s perhaps the artefact she’s interested in,” Andy said slowly. “She sees you at the site. At the same night, she shows up in the pub, approaches you and gives you an alien gadget that supposedly lets you read other people’s minds. That’s a bit much of a coincidence, isn’t it?”
“Coincidences do happen,” she returned angrily. “And people can want me for myself, not just for my big, dark Torchwood secrets, you know, even if you don’t seem to believe it.”
“Actually,” Andy laughed nervously. “I might believe that more strongly than you do. Do you have that thing on her right now?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Put it on.”
She frowned. “Why should I…?”
“Put it on,” Andy insisted. “If it truly works as it’s supposed to, you’ll understand the reason.”
She hesitated for a moment, but then took the pendant out of her handbag and put it on. She closed her eyes, clearly trying to focus, to insolate his thoughts from those of the other people around them. Andy tried to relax, to open his mind to her willingly, to share his feelings for her… feelings about the nature of which he wasn’t exactly sure himself. Well, at least it was the honest thing to do.
After a moment, she stiffened and became very still... then she blushed and opened her eyes.
“How long?” she asked, her voice barely audible above the background noise.
He shrugged, getting a little red-eared himself. “Since the first time we spoke, actually. Then I did a little research, and… well, it’s gotten worse. Or better, depending on your point of view. You… you've got under my skin somehow, and now I’m hooked for good.”
She pulled in her neck in embarrassment and blushed even deeper. “But I can’t… not now, anyway; perhaps not even later…”
“I know,” he smiled, a little sadly. “It’s okay. Don’t feel guilty; it’s not your fault that I’m having the biggest crush since I was fourteen. I just showed you how I feel because I wanted you to know that you do have other options… even if you choose not to use them.”
She smiled at him tremulously. “Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure,” he paused for a moment. “Would you do something for me? A small thing, just to put my mind at ease?”
“It depends,” she answered carefully.
He smiled and wrote down the number and frequency of his emergency pager on one of the paper napkins lying on the table.
“Keep this on you, all the time. Should you be in trouble, you can page me directly. Only the police know this number… and now you. I’m sure you’ll be able to hack into the system easily.”
“Are you allowed to give this to an outsider?” Toshiko asked.
“No,” he confessed. “But it would make me breathe more freely if I knew that I could come to your help, should you need it. I’m a police officer; that’s what I do for a living. So… let me help you if you’re in need, will you?”
“All right,” she said after a moment of hesitation and pocketed the napkin. Later, she’d save the number to her mobile phone, just in case. “Thanks for everything; I really appreciate what you’ve done for me. But now I have to go to work before Jack gets mad at me. Gwen’s the only one who can afford to be late.”
“I’ll walk you to the tourist office,” Andy offered.
Toshiko wanted to protest, but he was having none of it, so she finally gave in. They walked down the small street to the Plass like two old friends on the verge of possibly becoming something more.
~TBC~
Author: Soledad
Fandom: Torchwood
Category: Heavy-duty Gwen bashing.
Rating: 14+, just to be on the safe side.
Genre: Romance/Angst, for this part. Plus some dark humour.
Series: Wishverse.
Warning: repeated character death(s) in each chapter.
Timeframe: "Greeks Bearing Gifts". Major spoilers. This is an AU, though.
Summary: Many different ways to get rid of Gwen Cooper, while keeping the episodes as canonical as possible.
Disclaimer: the usual: don’t own, don’t sue! Everything belongs to RTD and BBC. I used a great deal of rewritten original dialogue, though.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
EPISODE 07 – GIFT HORSES, Part 3
Author’s notes: Continued from Part 2. Obviously.
This story will be posted in several short parts rather than in one big chunk, as it serves better the development of the relationship(s).
The Mermaid’s Dream is not a really existing pub.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
On the next two evenings Andy didn’t go to his favourite pub. Somehow he knew Toshiko wouldn’t be there; she’d gone all deer-in-the-headlights when that Mary character walked in and seemed to forget everything else. Perhaps she’d been serious, saying that she’d try her luck with girls for a change. Or perhaps that Mary person was doing some hypnotic mumbo-jumbo on her. Perhaps that pendant he’d seen her wearing for a short while had something to do with it.
Andy had Yvonne run a search on a Mary; age: late twenties or early thirties, slim, blonde, smoking a lot. He had Yvonne look for frauds matching that description cos he was certain that she had to be some sort of swindler. The search brought up forty-seven possible matches. He read their files after work, every single one of them; studied the pictures that came with the files. Toshiko’s Mary wasn’t among them.
On the second day he asked Yvonne to extend the search to all known blonde female frauds of the approximately same age, regardless of the name. The extended search brought up a hundred and thirty-eight other possible suspects. Andy got their files, too, read them and checked their photos. Again, Toshiko’s Mary wasn’t among them.
“What are you looking for anyway?” Desk Sergeant Bronowski asked, seeing him buried in old files. “Who’s this chick you try to find?”
“I’m not sure,” Andy replied slowly. “She’s been cruising around someone I happen to know, and I’m a tad worried.”
“Worried about what?” the Sergeant asked. Andy shrugged.
“Dunno. It’s just a gut feeling, you know? I have this feeling that she’s up to no good, and I’m worried about that lady I know.”
“Oh-oh,” Bronowski’s small eyes began to sparkle with interest. “A special someone, isn’t she?”
Andy shook his head. “Not that way; I barely know her. ‘Sides, she’s way above my league, I’m afraid.”
“Where do you know her from?” Bronowski asked.
“She’s Torchwood,” Andy explained. “We ran into each other a couple of times at various crime scenes.”
“She works with Gwennie?” Bronowski snorted and shook his head in compassion. “Well, that surely lessens your chances, lad. She’d have a very low opinion about the constabulary by now. Which would be a real shame, but hardly surprising.”
They shared a good laugh at Gwen’s expense; then Andy gathered the files and took them all back to the filing cabinet.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
He intended to continue his search in the countless pubs and bars during patrol duty on the third day. It was part of his job to check those places regularly, which would give him both the opportunity and the excuse to look out for his personal suspect. But after only two hours into shift, they were called to secure a crime scene.
When he got to the house – a rather nice one, with a glass door – two uniformed colleagues were leading away a hand-cuffed man in his mid-thirties. The man seemed ordinary enough, like any other bloke one could see on the streets, but there was something not-quite-sane in his dark eyes… something that made Andy shiver.
A slim woman with short dark hair and a kid of about ten or twelve – clearly their son – were being questioned by various plain-cloth detectives. The woman seemed scared out of her wits, alternately sobbing and screaming at the suspect, while the kid wore that sour expression with which boys of his age usually reacted to adult people’s hysterics.
There was a team of paramedics as well, since the handcuffed man seemed to have suffered some kind of head injury, if the bandage was any indication. There was some blood on the floor, but not much, so the injury couldn’t have been too bad. One of the crime scene investigators was examining a bloodied golf club, taking fingerprints and blood samples for further investigations. Another one was doing the same with a two-barrelled rifle, after having removed the bullets.
“What’s happened?” Andy asked Crime Scene Investigator Cochrane, a scruffy little Welsh guy whom he knew quite well. He’d often worked with the man before being cursed with Gwen as a partner and they’d used to get along just nicely.
“Your usual, run-of-the-mill family drama,” Cochrane replied with a shrug. “Apparently, the bloke whom your mates have just arrested is the ex-husband of the lady,” he nodded in the direction of the slightly hysterical woman. “He doesn’t seem to deal well with the fact that she’s with another man now and even plans to get married again. So he decided to shoot both his ex and his kid, rather than losing them.”
“The sick bastard,” Andy commented in disgust. “Did he injure them? The blood on the floor…”
“… is his,” Cochrane said. “Some young chick heard him muttering to himself about how he was gonna kill them. She became suspicious, followed him to the house, and when he pulled the gun, she crashed down the golf club on his head.”
“That was civil courage if I’ve ever seen it,” Andy said, impressed.
Cochrane nodded. “Yeah. If there were more people like her, we’d have less murder victims to deal with.”
“Who’s she?” Andy asked.
Cochrane shrugged, finishing his work on the gun and put it into a plastic bag. “Dunno. Some Asian chick. Freaking cute, though. Inspector Henderson’s talking to her right now.”
Andy looked in the direction Cochrane had vaguely gestured at, and through the open door of another room he saw Detective Inspector Henderson, a big, burly guy, built like a brick shithouse, with hands of the size of coal shovels, looking even larger in his trademark, sand-coloured trenchcoat and sloppy hat, talking to a woman who barely reached to his chest. The woman had dark hair, glasses and wore a dark jacket over her green top. She seemed a little upset, but not as much as someone who’d just prevented the slaughter of an entire family ought to be.
Considering the fact that the woman was no-one else but Dr. Toshiko Sato from Torchwood, though, it perhaps wasn’t all that surprising. Torchwood agents were used to deal with things that would scare ordinary people to death.
But even so, the thought of her actively following a would-be murderer and dealing with him on her own made Andy uncomfortable. Ladies like her shouldn’t deal with scum. That was what police was for. He inched closer to the door, hoping to hear something about the case itself. Based on what Cochrane had already told him, it must have been an upsetting one.
“So, you’ve heard him muttering to himself, “Inspector Henderson was saying when Andy got within earshot. “What exactly did he say?”
“At first, he repeated ‘I'm gonna kill them’ over and over again,” the gentle voice of Toshiko answered. “Then he said something about laying their bodies outside, and lying next to them, so that he’d have to do himself lying down. So I reckon that he wanted to kill himself, too. He was even worried about not having practiced it lying down. That it might not work out the way he’d planned.”
“And the thought to call the police didn’t even occur to you?” Inspector Henderson asked. “Or are you Torchwood typed fighting common crimes in your spare time nowadays?”
“It wasn’t like that,” she replied, almost apologetically. “I… I just went with my instincts, I guess. Besides, I couldn’t see any uniformed cops around, and looking for one would have me lose the suspect.”
“Well, it was a brave thing to do in any case,” Henderson said. “A brave – and foolish thing. You could have gotten hurt easily. The man was a head taller than you are.”
Andy snickered, realizing that Toshiko, being small and cute as a button, must have brought out the male protective instinct of all big men – especially as large ones as the inspector. He felt the same effect on himself, to tell the truth.
She must have known it, too, because she smiled.
“Inspector, nearly all men I’ve met in my life were at least a head taller than I am,” she pointed out. “Don’t let my size fool you; I’m a trained field agent and can take care of myself very well. Besides, I hit the guy on the head from behind – he never knew I was even there. The only people really in danger were his ex-wife and their kid.”
“Still, attacking him with a golf club while he had a gun…”
“I’ve got a gun, too,” Toshiko interrupted. “Complete with a licence to use it if I think it’s necessary. But if I’d started to shoot around me, the woman and the kid might have gotten caught in the crossfire and hurt, perhaps even killed. It was safer this way.”
“I’m heavily impressed nonetheless,” Henderson said. “We’re gonna send your boss a report with our thanks.”
“Really, that’s not necessary…”
“No, no, I insist. It doesn’t happen every day that a civilian would show so much courage… or so much skill.”
“That’s because technically, I’m not a civilian,” Toshiko replied. “I’m dealing with stuff on a daily basis that’s a lot worse than mere homicidal ex-husbands.”
“Is that so?” Henderson asked mildly. “Why are your hands shaking, then?”
Toshiko looked down at her hands. They were shaking badly indeed. Not that Andy would blame for that. Other women (like Gwen) would have been in hysterics, having gone through the same, demanding to be comforted.
“It’s just nerves,” she said dismissively.
“Perhaps,” Henderson allowed. “I’d still find it better if you didn’t drive just now.
He looked around and spotted Andy who was pretending he hadn’t listened to their conversation with... moderate success.
“Constable…”
“Davidson, sir,” Andy supplied. The inspector nodded.
“Right, I remember now. Well, Constable Davidson, I want you to take the lady home… or to her workplace, whichever she’d prefer.”
“But sir, I’m supposed to secure the crime scene here,” Andy reminded him. He’d have liked nothing more than play the cavalier to Toshiko, but there were such things as regulations.
“You’re relieved,” Henderson said. “We’ve done the interviews, crime scene investigation is all but finished… your partner can deal with the rest alone. Just get her safely home.”
“Yes, sir,” Andy turned to Toshiko. “Shall we, Dr. Sato?”
“You know each other?” Henderson asked in surprise.
Andy shrugged. “We run into each other from time to time. My former partner works for them now.”
Henderson shook his head in honest amazement. “Gwen Cooper? Yeah, I’ve heard about that from Swanson, but I still can’t imagine what could have ridden Captain Harkness to hire someone like her… aside from invasive, illegal hypnosis or mind-altering drugs, that is.”
“Hormones, perhaps,” Andy supplied.
“No way,” Henderson said firmly. “It must have been a hypnotic suggestion. Hormones can’t be that strong.”
Toshiko snickered. “The Captain said once that she reminded him of a bug-eyed, tentacled alien he used to be intimate with,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. “Of course, we can never tell when he’s joking.”
Andy nodded sagely. “That would explain a lot,” he commented. “Like I said: hormones.”
Henderson blinked a few times, trying to decide whether they were pulling his leg or not. Then he probably decided that it had, indeed, been a joke, even if he still didn’t get it, because, frankly, the alternative would just be too weird to consider, even from someone who worked for Torchwood.
“All right, Constable,” he said. “We all had our laugh; now, why don’t you take the lady home?”
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Toshiko wasn’t particularly thrilled by the idea of being ferried home by police car, Andy could see that. But the inspector clearly wasn’t ready to back off from his chivalrous intent, so she went with Andy without further objection.
“I’m glad he had the common sense to pick you, “she said. “At least you know I don’t need to be treated like some fragile flower.”
“Perhaps,” Andy said noncommittally. “But you might want to talk about it. We could make a little detour to the pub and…”
“No,” she said quickly. “Not that pub. I… I don’t think I’d wish to go there again. Ever.”
Oh-oh, Andy thought, that date must not have gone too well last night! So much about trying her luck with girls.
“There are many other pubs in town,” he said simply.
She hesitated for a moment, clearly warring with herself.
“All right,” she finally decided,” pick one. I… I think I really need to wind down a bit.”
Andy took her to the Mermaid’s Dream, one of the older, more traditional-looking pubs near Roald Dahl Plass. It wasn’t his preferred watering hole, but one he’d visited with his dad a few times, whenever they needed to talk.
“It isn’t very flashy,” he apologized, “but it’s usually quiet at this time, and we can have some privacy.”
It was a quiet place indeed, with wood panelling on the walls, everything coloured in brown and beige; a bit boring-looking, actually. There were only a few people drinking in the other boxes and talking in low tones, and someone playing on the flashing slot machine behind them. Definitely not a place where a lady of her class would go on her own, but it matched their purposes perfectly.
Andy went to the bar and ordered a gin tonic for Toshiko and a lemonade for himself. He was still on duty, after all.
“So,” he said, placing their drinks on the table and taking the chair opposite her. “What happened? I mean, what really happened? Cos all that stuff about the suspect talking to himself about murdering his whole family is just rubbish, and you know that.”
“Do I?” she asked softly, nursing her drink.
Andy snorted. “Oh, please! You aren’t talking to Gwen Cooper here, remember? I might not be a detective, but I’m not stupid. And I’ve been with the police long enough to know that if someone’s about to commit multiple homicides, they don’t talk about it to themselves aloud while they’re in the street. Unless they’re complete nutcases – and that bloke wasn’t nuts. Well, he was, of course, but not in the way of being an idiot. More on the slightly obsessed side, I reckon.”
“Andy,” she said gently, “you’re babbling.”
He gave her e bashful smile. “I am, aren’t I? You do have that effect on me every time. Anyway, what I meant is that no way would that bloke have rambled aloud. So, how did you figure out what he was up to? Used some kind of super-secret mind-reading gadget?”
He’d meant it as a joke and was greatly surprised by the look of utter shock on her face.
“Oh my God!” he whispered. “You did it, didn’t you? Are you Torchwood guys doing that all the time? Spying on other people’s private thoughts? Cos it’s not only illegal and against personal rights, you know; it’s immoral, too.”
“I know,” she replied tonelessly. She seemed deeply ashamed about it. “I… I didn’t know the pendant would do that when Mary first gave it me.”
“The pendant?” Andy started to understand things. “The one made of green crystal? The one I saw you when I ran into you in the other pub the second time? So it isn’t actually a Torchwood item, is it?”
She shook her head. “It was a… a gift. More of a course, now that I think about it.”
“Because you learned what other people think about you?” Andy asked. “You really shouldn’t be bothered by such things. Most people are idiots anyway.”
“No,” she said. “Because I’ve been spying on my friends. And it makes me feel dirty and ashamed. As you said: it’s illegal, it violates other people’s privacy, and therefore it’s immoral, too.”
Andy shrugged. “You can always choose not to use it. Or to give it back.”
“I could, I guess,” she agreed reluctantly. “Unless… unless I came to the conclusion that it would e even more dangerous in her hands than in mine.”
“And would it?” Andy asked. “Do you really think she’s dangerous?”
Toshiko didn’t answer at once, but her face was gradually getting clouded with sorrow.
“I don’t know,” she finally said. “I wish I could say no, but I just don’t know.”
“And yet you took her home with you on that second night.” It wasn’t a question, but Toshiko nodded anyway. “Why?”
“I’ve read her thoughts. She… she wanted me,” Toshiko stared at her drink dejectedly. “It has been a long time since anyone really wanted me.”
“Perhaps you just turned that bloody thing in the wrong direction,” Andy replied quietly. “What if she deceived you? Some people can have amazing control over their thoughts; what if she only let you see what she knew you wanted to see?”
Her eyes turned to him, hurt, accusing. “Are you trying to ruin this for me?”
“No,” he answered. “I just don’t want you to get hurt. You need to be careful.”
“Being careful never brought me anything else but loneliness and even more work,” she returned bitterly. “So what if she only uses me? I use her, too; it’s not so as if I’d fallen in love, all of a sudden. I still get something good out of it; more, in fact, than I’ve had out of being rational for years! Besides, what could she possibly want from me? Aside from the obvious, that is.”
“I don’t know,” Andy admitted. “Who’s she anyway, and where did she get that bloody pendant from?”
“She’s a scavenger,” Toshiko shrugged. “Someone who collects alien artefacts, just like we do. She says the pendant has been in her family for a very long time.”
“And yet she gave it to you?” Andy found that more than a little suspect. “Just like that, out of the blue?”
Toshiko shrugged again. “She says she’s had it for too long. It might get addictive after a while, I reckon. It does give you a heady feeling of power, you know.”
“I can imagine,” Andy said. “And yet she gave it to you. Enabled you to hear the sometimes petty thoughts of your friends. What for? Is she trying to alienate you from them, so that you’d be under her influence alone? But why?”
“I don’t see any reason,” she said. “She already knows about Torchwood, knows who we are and what we do. She saw us at the site where we found that skeleton… and the strange alien artefact we still don’t know what might be.”
“Then it’s perhaps the artefact she’s interested in,” Andy said slowly. “She sees you at the site. At the same night, she shows up in the pub, approaches you and gives you an alien gadget that supposedly lets you read other people’s minds. That’s a bit much of a coincidence, isn’t it?”
“Coincidences do happen,” she returned angrily. “And people can want me for myself, not just for my big, dark Torchwood secrets, you know, even if you don’t seem to believe it.”
“Actually,” Andy laughed nervously. “I might believe that more strongly than you do. Do you have that thing on her right now?”
“Yes. Why?”
“Put it on.”
She frowned. “Why should I…?”
“Put it on,” Andy insisted. “If it truly works as it’s supposed to, you’ll understand the reason.”
She hesitated for a moment, but then took the pendant out of her handbag and put it on. She closed her eyes, clearly trying to focus, to insolate his thoughts from those of the other people around them. Andy tried to relax, to open his mind to her willingly, to share his feelings for her… feelings about the nature of which he wasn’t exactly sure himself. Well, at least it was the honest thing to do.
After a moment, she stiffened and became very still... then she blushed and opened her eyes.
“How long?” she asked, her voice barely audible above the background noise.
He shrugged, getting a little red-eared himself. “Since the first time we spoke, actually. Then I did a little research, and… well, it’s gotten worse. Or better, depending on your point of view. You… you've got under my skin somehow, and now I’m hooked for good.”
She pulled in her neck in embarrassment and blushed even deeper. “But I can’t… not now, anyway; perhaps not even later…”
“I know,” he smiled, a little sadly. “It’s okay. Don’t feel guilty; it’s not your fault that I’m having the biggest crush since I was fourteen. I just showed you how I feel because I wanted you to know that you do have other options… even if you choose not to use them.”
She smiled at him tremulously. “Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure,” he paused for a moment. “Would you do something for me? A small thing, just to put my mind at ease?”
“It depends,” she answered carefully.
He smiled and wrote down the number and frequency of his emergency pager on one of the paper napkins lying on the table.
“Keep this on you, all the time. Should you be in trouble, you can page me directly. Only the police know this number… and now you. I’m sure you’ll be able to hack into the system easily.”
“Are you allowed to give this to an outsider?” Toshiko asked.
“No,” he confessed. “But it would make me breathe more freely if I knew that I could come to your help, should you need it. I’m a police officer; that’s what I do for a living. So… let me help you if you’re in need, will you?”
“All right,” she said after a moment of hesitation and pocketed the napkin. Later, she’d save the number to her mobile phone, just in case. “Thanks for everything; I really appreciate what you’ve done for me. But now I have to go to work before Jack gets mad at me. Gwen’s the only one who can afford to be late.”
“I’ll walk you to the tourist office,” Andy offered.
Toshiko wanted to protest, but he was having none of it, so she finally gave in. They walked down the small street to the Plass like two old friends on the verge of possibly becoming something more.
~TBC~