Born of Fire (Doctor Who AU)

Chapter 20 Things went a bit Wonky

Steve flicked through a two-year-old Radio Tymes looking at articles that were as boring now as they were when written. He hated waiting rooms, and he'd been sitting in this one for over three hours. He tossed the magazine, exchanging for a discarded classifieds filled with circled job adverts and showed it to Harry. "So, have you ever worked anywhere except Torchwood?"

"Nope, I answered an advert twenty years ago for a job as station monitor for satellite surveillance. All I had to do was keep an eye out for situations. I was pretty much on my own and the pay was great" Harry answered. "When Mr Tyler took over after the Troubles, he promised to upgrade the place, so I stayed."

"But, you're not Scottish."

"True, but I am Northern and I like it here," Harry answered as he sipped stale coffee from a styrofoam cup. "Wish Nick would come back and tell us something." He stood up and tossed the cup in a bin, and walked to the hallway only to stop. "Shite! When you called about Jake, did you tell them about Daniel?"

He glanced up with pinched eyebrows. "No, he was standing upright when I called, why?"

"How are your job prospects outside of Torchwood?"

"I don't know, hadn't thought about it. Again Why?" He said standing up to join the older agent at the doorway.

Harry turned to look at Steve with a hapless grin. "Cos' somebody called the boss, and we're about to be fired," he said nodding down toward the hallway. Four Torchwood medics, Marcus Jones, and Peter Tyler marched off the lift, turned right, and headed straight for them. There was nowhere to hide. The group stopped whilst Marcus said something before taking his team to the unit and Pete continued forward.

"God, he's narked," Steve mumbled.

"What the bloody hell did you bunch of idiots do!" Pete demanded when he spotted them in the doorway.

"Mr Tyler, I can explain," Harry started.

"Which one of you called headquarters?"

Steve's hand inched upward. "That would be me, sir."

"Why didn't you tell us about Daniel. And you," he whirled on Harry, "All your years on the job and you let this get out of control!"

"It started as a bit of lark mixed with a training session, but It went a bit wrong," Steve stammered when two blue eyes drilled into him.

"A lark? You called Daniel in so he could bail your arses out of a lark? And what -- you didn't think I wouldn't call the warehouse the minute I was notified an agent was down? Both of you get back to the shed and report to the new supervisor. I want a complete explanation on my desk by dawn and then." He drew a breath. "And then, all of you are suspended pending a review."

"Mr Tyler, this isn't Steve's or the others fault," Harry said.

"Harry, I expected better sense from you and Jake. Now, I'm taking two agents back to London injured, and I have an entire department down because someone thought tagging an alien was a lark. Now get the hell out of here!"

"They're gonna be okay," Harry murmured.

Pete crossed his arms. "Only because the universe occasionally protects idiots." With that, he stalked off leaving the two to stare at each other.

"Well, at least, we don't need the job adverts," Steve mused.

Daniel groaned, becoming vaguely aware of someone messing with his hair. He knocked the hand away and then scratched his chin. A wave of dizziness greeted his effort to turn over. A soft, feminine voice urged him from the edge of oblivion. He knew that voice and its owner always annoyed him.