magicom | Infiltrator

Title: Infiltrator - Part Four.
Author:

magicom
Rating: Maybe PG at the worst.
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of its characters. No money being made.
Paring/Characters: Jack, Ianto, (Jack/Ianto), Gwen, Doctor Rupesh Patanjali, Johnson (well, off-screen).
Spoilers: Takes into consideration all of S1, S2 and Day One of CoE.
Summary: As a whole: He's a doctor... they need a doctor. What if the 456 fuckery didn't happen and Torchwood actually did recruit Rupesh, who was trying to get the gig to spy on them for Johnson, as discussed in Day One? This part: Rupesh has lunch with Gwen and discusses a few things about their coworkers.
Warnings: None to speak of.
Notes: Takes place starting just before and during CoE: Day One and goes AU from there onwards.

Rupesh agreed to Gwen’s lunch invitation, but was a little surprised when they left the Hub. She walked him up to one of the cafes in Mermaid Quay and didn’t say much until they were sat at a table with menus and coffee.

“Your first Weevil this morning,” she commented with a smile. “How did that go?”

Rupesh laughed. “It was all a little… needlessly mysterious?” he ventured.

Gwen grinned at him and he was pleased with himself. “Yes, well. Jack has a bit of a flair for the dramatic,” she allowed.

“And the cryptic,” Rupesh added. “I tried having a conversation with him… I can’t even make small talk. Every time I ask a question, I get a very distinct ‘if I told you, I’d have to kill you’ vibe.”

Gwen frowned thoughtfully and Rupesh was a bit disappointed. He’d been hoping to make her laugh.

“What did you ask him about?” she wondered.

Rupesh shrugged. “We’d just caught the Weevil and he and Jones had been bantering. I asked Captain Harkness how long they’d been together.”

Gwen nodded knowingly. “They’re both a bit touchy about the whole relationship thing,” she advised him. “I’d just stay away from the subject. You’re new and they don’t really know you yet…”

Rupesh looked at her sharply. “Relationship thing?” he blurted out, interrupting her. “Like… relationship relationship thing?”

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Yes. You just said you asked Jack about it.”

“I asked him how long they’ve been working together!” Rupesh protested. “I didn’t know they were…” His voice trailed off as he found he couldn’t actually say the word he was thinking. “A couple,” he finished weakly.

So, Rupesh thought, not posing as partners, after all.

Gwen was giving him the appraising look now; the one that usually came from Harkness. “Is that a problem for you?” she asked in a tone that really only allowed for one answer.

“Of course not,” he told her quickly. “I’m just… surprised.”

He was relieved when his answer seemed to mollify her and she went back to perusing the menu.

He wasn’t exactly shocked that Harkness was unprofessional enough to engage in relations with an employee – not after his shooting lesson – but… Jones? He had to keep himself from laughing. Harkness was shagging his secretary. It was a little cliché for someone like him.

Rupesh looked across at Gwen. He’d learned something new about her, as well. She certainly did seem as willing to answer his questions as he’d thought, but she was very protective of her team mates. He supposed that was what happened between people who were constantly putting their lives in each other’s hands.

“How long have you worked here?” he asked.

Of course, he already knew when she’d joined from Johnson’s briefings, but he thought it would seem strange not to ask. Also, it was a much more comfortable subject than a lesson on how to avoid offending Harkness about his canoodlings with junior employees.

“Almost two years now,” she answered, putting the menu down. “Sometimes it doesn’t seem that long,” she mused. “And some days it feels like I’ve been doing this for a lifetime.”

“How do you tell good days from bad days at Torchwood?”

The question sprung from his lips before he could stop it. The job seemed to be all about slogging around the city to catch scary monsters. He wasn’t sure he’d choose it for himself.

“You haven’t had any bad days yet,” she told him gravely. “When you do, you’ll know the answer.”

Fantastic, he thought, something to look forward to, then. He tried a game smile, but he knew it faltered. At least Gwen didn’t seem to hold it against him.

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Part One
Part Two
Part Three

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