A/N: This is is.
The big one.
The one we've all been waiting for!
In all honesty I've been working on this story for years and with all of series 1 complete and my mate Jeremy editing I finally feel like it's ready to be shown to the world. Please let me know what you think.
Summery: Lucy Smith is a geek on holiday in Cardiff, after spending a lot of money at the Doctor Who experience fainted while walking down Roald Dalh Plass. She woke up surrounded by Captain Jack Harkness, Suzie Costello, Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato. After talking to her Jack agreed that she could join the Torchwood team. Three months later PC Gwen Cooper starts becoming interested in what it is that Torchwood actually do and Lucy knows that as much as she would like to she's not allowed to change anything.
Enjoy!
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
Lucy walked through Cardiff on her Doctor Who tour, she walked down the plass grinning up at the water tower. Her new signed DVDs were in her dalek bag, which was also new. While she had another plastic bag with a few more DVDs and some posters, she had saved for ages and spent loads of money at the shop after the Doctor Who museum, her friends – if you could really call them friends, more like people she knew and got along with - called her a geek and she never claimed that she wasn't. Her was camera out taking pictures of as many of the important shots as she could, planning to fill an entire album with them with her photos next to shots from the episode. Once she got a picture of her by the tower she would go down to the 'tourist centre' and get pictures at the memorial that had been put up there before going to a coffee shop for Ianto.
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
Her vision went black and she didn't remember collapsing until she woke up with familiar looking faces around her.
"Holy hell" She cursed sitting up quickly, "Sorry." She added "It's just... I am such a big fan, are you filming?" They all looked at each other, "I don't see any cameras." She looked around them trying to spot a TV camera.
"Owen," The leader said, "is she ok?"
"Well she looks fine but it could be concussion. No other symptoms though"
"You call him Owen when you're not filming? Odd" She said grabbing her bag and pulling out her notebook, turning to the first blank page quickly. "Yeah err, you can just ignore the fanfic and can I have your autographs please?"
"Fanfic?" The Asian woman asked,
"Err yeah. I mean it's not brilliant stuff just a couple of one shots and I'm working on a full length one. Well I was working on a full length one. Oh and bits of a Harry Potter crossover – I was bored and I probably shouldn't have mentioned that. Just forget I ever said that. But please can I have your autograph?" She said as she stopped rambling and trying not to blush and turn completely pink.
The man in the WWII coat was looking through her dalek bag and staring at the DVDs, "What are these?"
"Signed DVDs; Doctor Who series one to four, the specials and a bunch of classics, and Torchwood 1-3." She replied confused, "Listen if you don't want to give me an autograph that's fine but can I ask one question?"
"Go for it" The tall leader shrugged hoping to learn more about her.
"Why are you filming with Suzie? Are you doing a prequel cause I personally would love to know more of Suzie's role in Torchwood. Plus you get to see more of the others, we all missed them. Especially Ianto, it would mean Ianto was alive."
"What do you know about Torchwood? How do you know Suzie's name? And what do you mean Ianto's dead?"
She looked at the team who were gazing at her, eyes demanding answers. "You are fucking kidding me. This has got to be a joke right, this is one of those hidden camera things to see what people will believe."
"Suzie take her inside." He ordered, "She knows too much and I want to know where these DVDs came from."
"From the shop. I bought them from the shop at the end of the experience, I have the receipt in my bag as well as a couple of posters and books." She continued to look at them "You're not joking are you? Doctor Owen Harper? Toshiko Sato? Suzie Costello? Ianto Jones? Captain Jack Harkness, the Face of Boe?" She grabbed the DVDs out of Jack's hand while he was still in shock, "You can't see these, well Jack can see series one and two, bits of, but no way can you see anymore than that."
"Says who?"
"Who do you think?" She replied raising an eyebrow.
"Why can't we see them?" Suzie asked
"Spoilers." She giggled.
"How do you know those names?" Jack asked, "No one here knows that name."
"This really is real isn't it? Fucking rift." At that point the shock of everything and what had happened caught up with her. Lucy turned completely white and collapsed.
"Shit" Owen cursed.
"We need to continue this story inside. Get her into the hub and one of the cells. Keep the stuff in her bag but don't look at it." Jack said decisively.
Owen picked her up in a fireman's lift, "She's too light Jack." He carried her down the plass and into the hub.
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
She woke up in one of the cells her bag in there with her, at first she was confused as to where she was and then she remembered. Somehow she had changed universe and ended up inside the Whovian world. She whooped with excitement at the possibility of seeing all the aliens and maybe even seeing different worlds, allowing herself to think about the good side of things and not what she had left behind.
Ianto grinned as he heard the sounds of joy coming from the cells. "She sounds happy enough, not the normal reaction when people wake up in the cells" He commented, "Do you want me to get her some food? I'm going to order pizza for us anyway."
Jack nodded and Ianto descended the stairs.
"Hi."
"Hi" She smiled at him, "you're really real aren't you Ianto Jones? I've not walked onto an extreme practical joke and a TV set have I?"
"No, this is real. I'm ordering pizza what do you want?"
"Um, ham and mushroom please." She replied, "Soo any idea when I'll be let out?"
"That's up to Jack not me." Ianto said "I don't have any say in the matter, I just tidy up after them."
"Bollocks. You do loads more than that Ianto, don't play yourself down. You might be in the background but that doesn't mean you do nothing, they'd be surprised how difficult it is to live without you. God you're Ianto Jones, do you know how many people love you in my world?" Ianto was bemused but let her continue to ramble. "Everyone who loves Torchwood is a Ianto fan, Jack is in a close second in terms of popularity. It's like the Doctor is my hero, but you, you're so human and..." She sighed and then rested her forehead against the glass door "Listen I don't know how to help her or even if I should, but I promise you when I am free of this I will stand with you every step of the way. If I am in a position where I can help I will help, I promise. You deserve your second chance and I know how much it would mean to you."
He nodded and went slightly pale when her realised who she was talking about, "Thank you" he replied, "I'll order your pizza and add a chocolate pudding as well."
"You really are a lifesaver." Lucy grinned, going back to leaning against the wall the serious moment over. "I've gone a whole 3 hours without chocolate and I fainted twice. I need my fix."
He started to walk away but she called him back, "Ianto?" He turned round and raised an eyebrow in question, "Thanks" the dark haired girl said simply.
"For what?" The welsh man asked
"Just thanks" She shrugged and smiled.
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
He didn't say anything and left walking back up the stairs to Jack and the rest of the team.
"Maybe we should just talk to her Jack. I really don't think she's a problem."
"She knows things others shouldn't know." He replied
"If it's a TV program like she says then that would make sense. Maybe watch an episode to let her prove it." He shrugged, he knew he didn't have to explain what he had said as Jack would have been watching, he could only hope that he didn't ask what she had meant when she offered to help. "It's not my job to tell you what to do." He added, aware that he had potentially crossed the line.
"No" Jack agreed "it's not." He spoke in a way that meant the conversation was over, Ianto shrugged and left the room, leaving a mug of coffee on his bosses desk.
He continued to watch her before suddenly getting up and saying. "I'm going to speak to her." He passed the rest of the team as he walked down to the cells and he could tell that they were all talking about this anomaly of a girl and what it would mean if she really had come from a different world. Tosh was busy looking at different fantasy websites trying to get as much knowledge as possible, while Owen was moaning about the extra work this was going to give him whilst also making notes about things that may be different in the other universe, both medical and technological. Susie wasn't saying anything but instead was working with more force than was strictly necessary.
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
"Hi Jack." Lucy smiled at him, "Come to interrogate me."
"If it's true why aren't you devastated?" He asked straight away.
"Because I have nothing left for me anymore, I mean there's Becky, but she'll be fine without me. She has been for a while now." Her voice was serious and she sighed at the thought of what in her original universe. But she shrugged it off and smiled at Jack, her voice became more excited as she continued.
"I've dreamt of travelling across the stars for so many years now Jack. I don't want to run and never look back, although it might sound like it and it's very tempting. I just want to see everything the universe has to offer, I want to look out at the different planets and see different suns in the sky. I want to stand on a planet that doesn't have green grass, or a blue sky. To stand in the middle of a frozen world. To see different constellations. To ride the solar wave and finish anywhere."
Her eyes sparkled and Jack couldn't help but see the similarities between her and the Doctor; the thrill of the universe. There was something else hidden in her eyes as well but before he had time to think about it she continued and it disappeared.
"I want to see cultures that are completely different to mine, to gaze at something no other human will. Or won't for centuries to come. I want to do everything possible. And here, I can't travel across worlds, I know that, I'm only in Cardiff after all. But to know that I still have the chance, no matter how small, of seeing other people from different cultures, the chance to know what thousands, millions, of others don't; to know that when I look into the sky there might be people on other planets doing the same thing and knowing that the universe is teeming with life. Let me stay."
He stayed silent and she continued to plead her case, "I won't tell you what happens in the stories I know for certain, I'll keep the timeline as similar as possible. I swear, I'll let you lock up my DVDs so no one will know your past or any more about the Doctor than you want them to. I want my chance Captain. I need my chance to fly."
"How much of my future do you know?" He asked.
She sighed and shut her eyes trying to work out what to tell him to dissuade him, "Bad Wolf, Gray, Boe. I don't know everything, but I know enough. There are 31 Torchwood episodes, another 10 due to come out in a couple of weeks that I know the rough story line for. I'm not saying I'm going to be the best alien hunter you've ever met or even if I'll be a good one. But I am asking for you to give me a chance and if I suck at it then help me find somewhere to live in this world. Help me find a life. But let me keep my memories. Let me know that I am sharing this world with other species and with people who have travelled through time and space. Please"
He thought for a bit then nodded, "Ok, but I want to see the episodes with me in it, the ones that have already happened in my personal timeline. I'll bring out another safe for you to put them in and I won't know the code. That way no one can see what they shouldn't." He opened the cell door and she smiled at him before saying shyly.
"Err, can I still have that autograph?"
Jack laughed, a proper laugh that was rarely heard. "Maybe when you earn your place here. By the way what's your name?"
She laughed as well and walked out of the cell and with Jack into the main hub. "Lucy" She replied, "Lucy Smith"
"Nice to meet you Miss Smith."
"You too Captain Harkness"
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
"Should I do the introductions, or do you already know?" Jack asked.
"I know," she replied, "But I don't know all of the hub," She turned to look all around her and saw Myfwany soar above them. "God she's gorgeous, can I meet her?"
Tosh laughed as she joined them, "You don't want to meet us properly but the dinosaur you do."
"Look at her though, she's stunning and real and alive in the 21st Century." Lucy replied still following the flight of the Pterdactron.
"Maybe later." Jack said as Ianto appeared with the take out. "Lucy this is everyone, everyone this is Lucy" There was a mutterings of hello from the rest of Torchwood before Jack continued "First we need to work out what we are going to do with you."
"Well I've got nothing apart from clothes on my back and the stuff in my bag. And I can't imagine them being useful, especially as they need to be locked up. I suppose I'll need somewhere to live, a job, a life... everything."
Ianto put the pizzas down on the table as he sat down. "I've got a spare room, you can have that."
She looked up at him, determined to work out if he was being serious. "Really?"
"Yeah, I won't charge you rent not until things get settled down, but you'll have to help with keeping it clean and tidy and the cooking."
"I'm a decent cook" She offered.
Ianto looked at Jack, "Seems to me that's the best option, at least until she sorts herself out and is able to stand on her own two feet."
"I might have some clothes that will fit you." Tosh offered and Susie made a non committal sound of agreement.
"Thanks." Lucy smiled at them, "I mean they probably won't be my kind of clothes, because Tosh manages to look stunning in these dresses and Susie's bigger than me. But I'll take anything offered, I'll go clothes shopping later on in the week to try and get the essentials; underwear, jeans, t-shirts, hoodies - that kind of thing."
Tosh smiled and blushed a bit at the compliment that Lucy gave her but privately agreed that her clothes wouldn't suit the new girl. Jack thought about it then nodded.
"Ok, and I'll give you a job here for now. I figure you're acting pretty well with the whole changing universe thing, that Torchwood might just be the place for you. You can stay and work here for a few months and then I'll rethink it through with you. "
"Thank you Captain" Lucy said sincerely, "it's more than I could imagine."
"I don't want you going out into the field for a while though, not until you're trained with a gun to a decent level at least. So until then you can stay here with Ianto while we go out and help him with the archives."
"Sounds fine to me." Lucy shrugged "I wasn't expecting to be completely thrown into the deep end, although the rift seems to have done a good enough job at that. Am I only helping out Ianto or do you want me to help the others too?"
Jack looked at the rest of the team waiting to hear what they had to say, Suzie was the first to speak.
"I'm part the way through research on the glove so I don't need any help until I've finished that. I want to get that done myself – it's fascinating."
Lucy gave a small nod of acceptance knowing that meant she probably had a few weeks until Gwen joined the picture and she knew what was going to happen.
Tosh on the other hand shrugged.
"Sure you can help me. I'm not sure how much you'll understand of the complex stuff..." She paused for Lucy to respond.
"Almost certainly nothing, but if it helps you to tell me then do so anyway. I don't mind being a sounding board."
"You'll need to be trained up on how to use the system anyway as well as basic things like how to hack into other people's computers, CCTV, Crimnet – which is the police software. And then once you can do that I'll get you hacking into the government. Nothing too complex but enough that you won't need to ask me every time you need something done."
"Only the basic stuff then." Lucy couldn't help but give a weary smile,
"Well it is basic." Tosh said with a nervous laugh
"Only to you Tosh." Jack laughed, "But it is stuff that you'll need to know, Lucy, so make sure you listen."
"Well I'm not sure how much use you'll be to me." Owen admitted, "Unless you want to tidy up after me, in which case be my guest."
"No thanks" Lucy retorted knowing she needed to be straight with Owen from the start. He was a nice guy but completely sarcastic and she planned to make sure he knew where the line was from the beginning. "I've had enough of cleaning up after people to last me a life time. And that was for people I loved as well, not sarcastic doctors with bad bedside manners."
"Well, new girl. I think you might fit in after all. Although if you're going to be helping the tea-boy then you're pretty much the cleaner's assistant aren't you." Owen smirked.
"Hell no! Ianto was introduced as the archivist not tea-boy. He only clears up after you because you're still a petulant child who hasn't learnt to pick up his toys. And my name is Lucy – learn to use it."
The doctor looked like he was going to reply but Jack stepped in.
"Ok children, let's continue this later. Lucy, first you need a full physical. Owen, once you've done it, I want a comparison with our DNA and data to see if it differs, something like that is going to be of vital importance in the future. Everyone else get back on with your work. Lucy we'll do this now and in a few days time just so we can make sure we have the right data as a baseline. The travelling through the rift may cause it to be different to your normal. If the results are too different we'll do another one a week after the second. I don't make any assumptions on my teams health, ok?"
"Is this in the med bay?" Lucy asked slightly nervous, "Because that's not exactly private." She pulled awkwardly on the sleeves of her hoodie trying to hide as much of herself as possible.
"I'll stick up the curtain so no one can see in." Owen said with a shrug, although immediately making a mental note that she was so uncomfortable with the idea - the last time he had seen a reaction like hers at the idea of a medical examination was when he was a student doctor and the patient in question had been self-harming for years. He hoped this wasn't the case now, but he couldn't help but remember how light she was when he carried her into the hub. "Don't worry, it's confidential between the two of us. Jack's the only other person who can get into the medical records and he only does that if it an emergency and I'm unable to. I'm only able to tell him anything if you let me, confidential means confidential."
"I'll only look at it if I absolutely need to." Jack said when Lucy looked wearily up at him, "I've never looked at Suzie's or Tosh's and I've only seen Ianto's once. Don't worry."
"Ok." She took a deep breath, "Ok, let's do it now before I change my mind and decide I don't want to be part of Torchwood after all."
"I'd need your med record even if you decided not to stay with Torchwood" Jack said seriously, understanding how worried she was about this but made sure she knew that there was no choice. "So I could set it up in the real world and so Owen could compare yours with someone else's. We have no information on the difference between worlds, and we need to know of any potential differences just for your safety if nothing else."
"Great. So just to be clear I have no choice about having a full medical." Lucy said sarcastically
"Nope," Owen agreed before leading Lucy into the med bay and putting the screen up so no one else could see.
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
"So before I start is there anything you want to tell me?" Owen asked Lucy seriously as she sat awkwardly on the side of the bed.
"I dunno." SHe shrugged.
"Nothing you want to tell me? That I'm going to find out about anyway..." He said carefully not looking at her, while he got everything set up.
She stayed quiet and Owen could tell she was trying to work up the courage to try and say something. He sat next to her, putting things back down on the tray and looked at her seriously.
"I may be a bit of a sarcastic twat but I'm a damn good doctor - although I prefer it when my patients are already dead. Confidential means confidential, I'm not going to tell anyone what I learn from this, unless it is absolutely needed. That would only be if you were dying or something like that. And I would hope that in those moments you wouldn't really give a shit."
"I've got some scars." Lucy said quietly
"Self inflicted?" Owen replied also quietly, "Nothing shameful in it if they are, we all struggled at some point in our lives." Lucy gave a small harsh laugh.
"Let's just say I didn't have the best upbringing and leave it at that."
"My mum kicked me out on my 16th birthday" Owen said as he got off the bed and picked up the different medical instruments again. "Hoodie off, I need to get your blood pressure and a blood sample."
Lucy pulled her hoodie off and gave him a small smile at the t-shirt she was wearing, the Torchwood logo on top of the TARDIS.
"At some point that's going to stop being odd." Owen commented after staring at it for a second. "What's that blue box?"
"The TARDIS" Lucy replied automatically glad to be back on safer ground. "It's the form of the Doctor's Time Travel machine, got stuck that way '63. It's meant to blend in - but the chameleon circuit is broken. She's beautiful though."
"I'll take your word for it." Owen agreed took her blood pressure. "Right let's start with the basics. Full name?"
"Can this bit be confidential too?" Lucy asked sarcastically, "I don't like it."
Owen just stared at her and didn't say anything, she sighed. "Lucinda Elizabeth Smith." The doctor raised an eyebrow at her name and Lucy pulled a face. "I hate the name Lucinda, makes me think of old and stuffy woman. I refuse to respond to it -my name is Lucy."
He smirked, "Ok, when's your birthday Lucinda? You'll feel a small stabbing pain - but I need to get a blood sample" He held up the needle, and she winced at the thought before looking away and presenting her arm. He was impressed with her ability to not show any discomfort from the pain as he removed enough blood to store and to use for research.
She refused to say anything until he sighed, "fine - when were you born, Lucy?" Lucy smiled at him before replying.
"3rd March - hang on what's the date?"
"16th June 2007" Owen said not looking up as he pulled the syringe out.
"Then... 1984. I turned 23 a couple of months ago"
"Do you know your blood type?"
"No clue, sorry." She said shaking her head.
"Any medical issues? Allergies?" He said pulling a thermometer out at quickly taking her temperature
"Nope"
"Hmm... your temperature is a bit higher than I would normally like - but I don't know if that's your normal or not. Are you currently getting over a bug, had a cold?"
"No." She shrugged "Been feeling fine. Apart from the fact I fainted, twice" Lucy added the last bit with a wry smile.
"When?" He looked up from his paperwork.
"Just before I got here. I must have fainted, because last thing I remember I was walking down the plass in my world with a bit of a headache. Then it's black and I'm waking up to see you all staring at me and obviously when I realised this whole situation was real."
"No history of fainting in the past, do you often feel dizzy?"
"I'm normally fine." She said starting to feel uncomfortable again. "Surely it was the effect of being taken by the rift..."
"I wouldn't know." He said returning to her file, "It's not like I've had people to study who have travelled in such a way. And even if I did we've not even heard of anyone travelling like you have from one parallel universe to another, not outside of fiction anyway."
"Mickey, Rose and the Doctor did." Lucy said, "The doctor said there was no risk, only a bit of background radiation. Void stuff - you can see it looking through 3D glasses."
"3D glasses?" Owen thought, "we should have them somewhere, if not they're not difficult to get."
"It makes no difference to my health."
"No but it would be interesting to see, any side effect of the background radiation that you know of?"
"If someone opens the void - the gap between the universes - and I'm nearby I'd get pulled in. Anything else you need to know?"
"Well I'd love a scan of your brain." He pulled out a small machine from a box. "This is an alien scanner. I'll get one of your body, so I can see any old broken bones and such like and then I'll do a more in-depth one of your brain. Only takes a few minutes."
"Great." She sighed, "and then will we be done?"
"Then we'll be nearly done. I'd like to have a look at your scars." He set the scanner running and Lucy stiffened.
"Why?" She asked coldly.
"So that I have an idea of how much damage there was and how much damage would be needed to make things a hell of a lot worse."
"Fair bit of damage and probably quite a lot. There was a knife nearby and toys left on the floor"
"At least tell me where they are, if you are not going to show me. I'd like to know where any potential danger area's are."
"Base of my back and a couple on my stomach."
"I should really see them." He said turning the scanner off and having a look at the information, "You've broken a few bones."
"Left arm twice, right arm once, my right wrist and left leg once and each foot once as well." Lucy said with no emotion, "I used to be quite clumsy although it's got better recently."
"I can imagine. They healed fairly well, although your left arm looks slightly weaker - you're at risk of breaking that one again with a fall if you land awkwardly." He made another note in her file before looking up at her again with his stethoscope around his neck "Well if you refuse to let me look at your scars I'll quickly hook you up to the ECG machine and then once I've done the brain scan you'll be free to go."
"Thank god."
"As far as I can tell you are a healthy 23 year old, although you are fairly underweight. How much do you eat?"
Lucy shrugged, "I dunno, enough to stop me feeling hungry? I've never been a big eater."
"In the same way you used to be clumsy?"
"Hmmm..."
Owen knew that it was always going to be an uncomfortable subject and could that some things were so deeply ingrained into the new member of the team to keep secret that she would never talk about them.
10 minutes later Lucy was finally free of Owen's clutches.
"Thank god for that." She sighed as he removed the screen.
"Well piss off then" Owen said as he started to get on with work.
"No need to tell me twice." She replied jumping down off the bed and going up the stairs as quickly as possible.
She reached the sofa in the main area and flopped down on it. "Tired?" Jack asked her looking down at her from his office before walking down to join her.
"You try being taken from your universe and then being thrown to Owen." She replied briefly shutting her eyes, "It's more tiring than you might think."
"I'll take your word for it." He laughed, "I've told Ianto he can finish in an hour, once the tourist office hours are over. You can go back with him then and I'll give you some money to get clothes."
"Thanks" She smiled at the fictional character standing in front of her.
"I'll get Tosh to get you a laptop so you can have a look at the news and such things to see if you can find any major differences between your world and ours. And I'll go looking for a safe for you to put those DVDs of yours in."
"Thank you Captain" Lucy said seriously, "I have no idea how this is going to work but thank you for letting me try."
"It's a challenge, and I'm not one to back down from challenges"
"I know." She said wryly.
"Yeah I guess you do."
(*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*) (*_*)
A/N: So there it is. Lucy has joined the Torchwood team. Just to let you know I've moved a few episodes around and worked out my own calendar of when things are happening.
Please feel free to ask me questions in your review and I'll do my best to reply to them, if I don't reply it's because it's a spoiler for the future.
I hope you enjoyed chapter 1 and I'll see you again next week for the first part of 'Everything Changes'.
Don't forget to REVIEW!
Rea