looking up at skies on fire

His eyes widened a little at the date, but then he sighed.

"I was told--it would not cause a paradox, but that history had already been set. Too many people thought me dead. Returning home was out of the question. Even now I imagine it would be a bad idea."

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Anna had looked sideways back at Gwen, but swiftly returned her attention to their subject. The gears in her head had been going full speed ever since setting her eyes on the relic of a man in front of them, and just because because she couldn't shake the impression that there was something naggingly familiar about him. It was like being presented with an entirely new kind of archaeological mystery. And with that thought it took an effort not to wander off down the mental lane of inquiry over what exactly this type of study would even be called.

She let out a little noise of excitement. "You're not Victorian!" she blurted. "You're Edwardian. Was I wrong?"

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Gwen waved Anna off, and set her hand comfortingly on Jack's arm. She wasn't exactly trying to ignore Anna, but she felt maybe the weighting of Edwardian versus Victorian dress might be more suitable in the Hub over a cuppa, rather than in a creepy Cardiff alleyway.

"Regardless of where you're from or what you're doing here, I think it's all the more reason to get you back to the Hub."

She glanced at Anna, feeling a bit bad about giving her the the brush off. So she offered her a smile. "Don't you think?"

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Anna had indeed wilted slightly at the brush-off, but she would agree that the alley wasn't the best place for a conversation.

"I think he's harmless," she replied brightly, and jammed the Rift monitor into her coat pocket. Then she smiled at Jack. "We've got chocolate biscuits; do you like those?"

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To say that Jack was feeling overwhelmed would have been something of an understatement--he'd just inexplicably found himself back on his home planet, in his own future, in Cardiff, he'd immediately been set upon by two women with firearms, and now they wanted to take him somewhere and... feed him biscuits?

But he supposed it was better than floundering in the alley, amongst the rubbish bags. And the women looked like they knew what they were about.

"The Hub...?" he asked uncertainly.

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"Our, um, 'home base,'" Gwen offered in way of halfhearted explanation. "We're part of a team called Torchwood. We're here to help, I promise."

She gave him her comforting smile, hoping it was enough to convince him they weren't interested in dissecting or imprisoning him. Well, at least she and Anna weren't. She sure wasn't going to speak for Owen and Jack.

"Come on," she says, gesturing. "We'll show you around, make sure you're okay. Then we can figure out how to help you."

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Jack frowned a little at the mention of Torchwood--he was certain he had heard the name before, somewhere, somewhen--but he shook it off and gave Gwen and Anna a rather game smile.

"I believe you," he replied. "Lead the way, ladies."

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Gwen nodded towards Anna and guided Jack out of the alleyway and towards the Cardiff city.

She kept an eye on Jack, a little worried about his reaction to his surroundings, hoping he didn't wig out or bolt into to the street.

She's have to talk to Anna, buy time to figure out what was going on before Jack got back.

Gwen paused next to the road. "Uh, make sure you look both ways," she told him, gently, like a mother talking to a small child.

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Giving Gwen a mild reproachful look, Jack nevertheless eyed the traffic a little apprehensively. "I do know what a motorcar is, thank you," he replied. "I assume we'll be riding in one?"

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Gwen smirks. Motorcar? Is this guy for real?

"No," Gwen says, ignoring his little jaunt into the distant past. Though if this guy is Victorian, or Elizabethan, or whatever, it's a bit strange he knows about cars. She makes a mental note to grill him on that later.

"The Hub's in walking distance, just a bit through the city centre," she tells him, pointing in the direction of the Millennium Centre.

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"Lucky for all of us," Anna chimed in, practically vibrating with excitement and enthusiasm. She couldn't wait to get Jack sat down so she could start learning all about him. She was going to be the envy of historians the world over.

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Jack peered ahead into the distance and made a slight humming noise to himself--it was a remarkable-looking piece of architecture. Actually, he could say that for most of the buildings around them.

"Lead the way, then," he repeated.

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The small group made their way (to Gwen's relief, uneventfully) to the Millennium Centre. Gwen spent the time torn between amusement and admiration for Anna's enthusiasm for the whole situation. Gwen still had her reservations about Jack, but if nothing else, it was a relief to see Anna out of vaults, on a mission, and coming out of her shell.

Gwen steered away from the tourist office, and gave Anna a playful look.

"You think we should show our guest in through the back door?" she asked, gesturing towards the invisible lift.

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Anna's face lit up and she nodded enthusiastically, bobbing on her feet again, and replying cheerfully, "If he's going to get the grand tour..."

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"Oh, go on then!" Gwen winked. She ushered Anna and Jack onto the step and jumped up after them.

She wrapped her arm around Jack's and smiled at him. "Hang on, this might feel a bit strange." Of course, having just been swallowed by a rift in time and space and plunked into a Cardiff alleyway was strange, but it's all about perspective.

The step gave a small shutter and began its decent.

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Jack managed to keep his balance as the invisible lift began to lower itself, mostly by tightening his newfound grip on Gwen's arm for a second, but instead of developing dinner plates for eyes a smile slowly spread its way across his face as he looked down.

"Incredible," he said approvingly. "Are all secret hideouts like this these days?"

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Impressed by his ease at accepting his new surroundings, Gwen smiled.

He seemed clever, and friendly, and regardless of where he came from that was welcome. They didn't get enough friendly visitors at the Hub.

"No, just us," she said, and shot him a flirty smile. "I think you'll find Torchwood does things a bit... differently than anyone else."

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Jack lifted an eyebrow at her in a way only a man from the turn of the previous century could do.

"Certainly different from the New Victorians," he replied, musingly. "It seems home has left me behind. I suppose I should not be surprised. Science and technology were making such great leaps forward when I left, after all."

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The lift came to a stop in the Hub, and Gwen stepped down, offering Jack her hand.

"You're going to have to clarify a bit, I think," Gwen said. She considered taking him down to the interrogation room, but decided against it. It was so sterile and uninviting, and with Jack gone she didn't feel obligated to treat him like a prisoner.

"Why don't you show him to a seat, Anna," Gwen said. "I'll go get us some coffees. And then you can fill us in a bit on exactly where you come from," she said to Jack.

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Anna would have been a bit horrified by taking their new guest to the interrogation room anyway. He clearly wasn't presenting any kind of threat, and didn't appear to have done anything wrong--besides come back to Earth, but that hadn't been of his own will, anyway--so why should they act as jailers? It wouldn't be fair. Or nice.

So she took Jack to their conference room and settled herself across the table from him, then just as quickly bounced back up. "Oh! I'll want to take notes, I guess. I'll be right back." And she ran for her desk.

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Gwen laughed as Anna popped out of the room, and grinned at Jack.

"She's new. And a bit... eager," she said cheerfully.

She leaned back in the chair. "Would you like something to drink?" she asked. "Tea or coffee? Or perhaps something to eat." She sighed. "You're sort of a guest here. We're used to aliens trying to kill us, we're not exactly used to friendly chats."

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"Tea would be lovely," Jack replied. "I am not an alien, you know."

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Gwen got up to prepare him a cuppa, and laughed.

"Oh, I imagine you're not. You look human enough to me."

Human, and really, really cute. But she wouldn't mention that quite yet.

"But I have to ask, where is it, exactly, that you are from? Are you really Victorian? We haven't got time travellers through the Rift yet," she added, as she waited for the kettle to boil. "At least, none that I know of."

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"Not Victorian, no," he said, folding his hands on the table and watching Gwen as she went about her business. "Your friend was just a little off her mark. I believe your historians would refer to me as an Edwardian. I left Earth in 1912."

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