Luke Smith Of Torchwood

Chapter 4

Twenty minutes had passed with each minute getting more agonising than the last. Luke and Sanjay had both sat down but Luke's leg bounced vigorously, displaying his anxiety. Sanjay had retrieved a pamphlet from the rack five minutes in to suppress his boredom whereas Luke couldn't suppress the thoughts penetrating his erratic mind. 'What if I was wrong? Maybe that man went to get security? Are we going to get in trouble?' He tried to be logical and remind himself how irrational some of these thoughts were but to no avail. Finally, he turned to Sanjay.

"Do you think he lied to us? I dont think it should take this long to get his boss out." His eyes filled with the worry he was unable to vocalise.

"I'm sure it's fine, Luke." Sanjay reassured, patting his leg. "Maybe he was just a bit busy and he'll be here soon."

On cue, the beads suspended from the door frame were disturbed as the welshman returned. Following him was a tall muscular man wearing a light blue shirt and pale suspenders, who Sanjay assumed was the boss.

"You wanted to see me?" He spoke in a confident American accent.

The first man answered before Luke or Sanjay could; "this is Luke Smith," he gestured towards them "remember?"

With just as much confusion as before, Sanjay looked to his side to find Luke with a hybrid expression of relief, glee and a hint of upset.

"Ah, yes, I believe I do" he grinned "you're Sarah Jane's boy, arent you?"

There was a moment of silence as Luke tried to find his words. "I, uh, y-yes that's, uh, that's me" he gave a shy smile before continuing "is this- is this torchwood?" His hands wrung together, indicating his nerves that were otherwise quite well hidden.

"How did you find us? You must have done your research well." the man questioned with both an impressed and unsure tone.

The anxious boy opened his mouth for a second, ready to answer when another voice rang out instead.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Sanjay blurted out, interrupting Luke's answer.

"Of course- Captain Jack Harkness" he held out his hand "and you are?"

"I'm Sanjay." He smiled politely and shook the outstretched hand.

Jack turned back to Luke "so, why did you come here?"

"Its a long story" Luke mumbled.

"I'll make us coffee then." Ianto smiled and went to leave when Jack offered for them to go inside.

Sanjay briefly wondered what he meant by that as they were already inside the building. His silent question was answered when a wall moved, revealing a corridor.

"Shall we?" The captain said with his signature grin returned to his features.

The four of them followed Ianto until they arrived in the main part of the hub. At this point they split so Ianto could brew some coffee as the rest went to Jack's office. Along the way, curious glances were shot towards them by the few workers currently in the hub. The newcomers tried to look as if they belonged there as Jack kept up his speedy pace up the steps and through another door.

Once the other two had entered, he pointed to a place to sit on one side of the office. They both sat and Jack leant against his desk facing them. He took a rapid look over the boys shoulders to check Ianto's coffee progress and estimated it would only take another minute or so. He then returned his gaze to Luke to address the elephant in the room.

"So tell me, Luke, what brings you here and how did you find us?"

"I, well, uh... my mum died and I-" his eyes travelled to the floor and a light pink tinge painted his cheeks and ears "-I kinda missed all the aliens and stuff and I remembered hearing about you before when we were helping the doctor and-"

A figure appeared in the doorway and stopped him from rambling.

"Sorry, I forgot to ask how you boys take your coffee" the man in a suit said.

They both told him and Jack encouraged Luke to continue with how this supposedly top secret institution was uncovered by a couple of teenagers.

"Oh, yeah, I sort of only knew you were somewhere in Cardiff and planned to just search and hope I found you. Apparently that worked better than expected." He smiled nervously.

The captain let out a chuckle. "You were quite lucky then, I suppose. With that strategy you could have been searching for weeks on end- actually, how long have you been looking for?"

"A few days." Both replied in unison.

"Hm, maybe we should increase the security of this place." He pondered.

Sanjay gave Luke a knowing look and said "well, Lukey here is a little bit of a genius so I dont think you'll get any trouble from the average Joe."

Luke went cherry red all over and gave a warning jab to Sanjay's conveniently close ribs. "I'm not- I just-" he sighed "hes exaggerating." He attempted to look as convincing as possible.

"Barely" the other whispered.

Before any further awkwardness could ensue, they were saved by a tray containing four steaming mugs being placed on the desk. Jack was quick to grab his mug and take a sip, humming contentedly as he savoured the delicious liquid.

"Tea boy here makes the best coffee I've ever tasted," he stated, passing two of them over as proof "here, try it."

They both agreed it was marvelous and Ianto thanked them for their praise then continued the conversation that had been temporarily abandoned.

"So, are you here looking for work or just visiting?"

"I didnt really think that far ahead." Luke admitted. "I just wanted some more alien adventures before having to live out the mundane life of a normal person."

"Well we can help you there." He smiled.

"As long as you're prepared for the danger that comes along with it" Jack added "most torchwood agents get an early retirement, and not in the pleasant way."

Luke nodded calmly and said "I'm aware, I wasnt planning on a full time job to be honest, maybe just a few months so we can make some extra terrestrial memories to keep with us in a terrestrial life."

"Well now seems as good a time as any to discuss how you can get involved" Jack turned and started rummaging through the files in draws behind him.

Several documents were strewn across the desk after short while of searching. He organised them a little less haphazardly so they were in a semi neat line and easy to see.

"So," he said, opening the first file in front of them all "let's find you some 'adventures' then!"