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[personal profile] book_junkie007
Author: Book_Junkie007
Pairing: Ianto/Gwen, Tosh/OMC, team
Rating: PG 13
Wordcount: 2490 words
Warnings: Set between End of Days and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
Notes:
It took a village to write this fic, so thanks goes out to:
- karaokegal and veritas6.5 for being absolutely fabulous betas
- @kaddison_ on Twitter for sharing her experiences in Nepal and making sure I had Kathmandu accurate
- @CCTerry_ for listening to my rants and giving me feedback on scenes I wasn't sure about
- @AsphyxiaPallida for cheering me on
- @Miss_T2011 for reading things over, giving me feed back, and cheering me on
- My boyfriend for helping me figure out machinery, which I'm useless at
- Everyone on Twitter, LJ, and in real life who have put up with me babbling about this fic for the last six months. I love you all. <3

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood as I am Canadian. I kind of live in the wrong country. :P

Summary: Sequel to It All Falls Apart

Set during the four months between End of Days and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. The team is still coming to terms with Jack's abandonment, while Gwen, the new head of Torchwood, is also dealing with the fact that Rhys is truly gone. The Prime Minister's phone call to the remaining members of the team takes them, along with Benjamin Stratford, a new recruit, to the mysterious Himalaya to see if the Yeti is real, and if it needs their help getting home.

Master List



Gwen woke in an unfamiliar bed. There had been a time when a strange bed meant she'd been with Owen and would need a convincing story to explain to Rhys why she hadn't been home. Those days were in the past; both she and Owen had made a choice about that. These days, it might mean she'd spent the night with Ianto, but in that case she'd have waked up warm and entangled with his limbs, but the chilly bed indicated that wasn't the case here. She turned over and saw Toshiko’s hair spread across the other pillow. She returned to her previous position and watched the light from the window for a few minutes until the alarm clock rang.

Toshiko rolled towards Gwen. “Morning,” she said sleepily.

“Morning. Get enough sleep?”

“I guess. We can always nap later, if need be.”

“Yeah. Do you want to shower first?”

“Yes, please,” Toshiko said, getting out of bed and heading toward her luggage.

Gwen thought about the days to come. She wasn’t sure if the rumours surrounding the Yeti were credible, and it would be hard to know if it existed for sure without additional information. She would have to find someone who had seen the Yeti and hear their stories so she could figure out their next move.

She had originally decided to come because it was the Prime Minister’s orders, but the more she thought about it, the more it became a personal choice for her. Gwen believed with a passion that Torchwood should help aliens whenever possible, even if that meant traveling to another country to check out reports. It was also what Jack would have done.

Her thoughts turned to Jack, wondering where he was and what he was doing, whether he was safe or not. She pondered again how he could have abandoned them, abandoned her, leaving her to deal with the fallout of Rhys’ death and Abaddon. Gwen sighed. It was an already old problem, and one she had no way of solving; not here, not now.

Toshiko came back from the shower, and Gwen roused herself to head in that direction too. Soon, they were both ready to meet the men downstairs. In the foyer, Gwen and Toshiko met Ianto, Owen, and Benjamin. Together, they decided to breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant before meeting their guide and porters for the trek to Kanchenjunga.

Sitting down for breakfast together, Gwen looked around fondly at her team, her family. Except for Benjamin, the others had been with her through all the insanity of learning the ropes of this job, this mad, but fulfilling job. They had supported her as she figured out how to be the commander of Torchwood, helped back her up to UNIT when there were questions about her ability to lead Torchwood adequately. She wasn’t sure where she would be without them. Dead, probably. All of them.

Finished with their breakfast, Gwen paid and led the way to the front door. With Toshiko’s help, they figured out how to get to where they were going to meet their porters and guide, and started off. The place was a coffee shop off the main roads of Kathmandu. Gwen went inside first.

“Namaste,” the man behind the counter said, putting his hands in the prayer position, and bowing slightly in her direction.

“Namaste,” she replied, returning the greeting.

“What can I get for you?”

Gwen scanned the menu. “How about a coffee, milk, and sugar?” A latte seemed unlikely in this place.

The man nodded. She watched as the rest of the team stepped forward to order their drinks, Benjamin ordering tea, as usual. After they received their beverages, Gwen led the way to a table big enough to accommodate them all when their porters and guide arrived.

Owen took a sip of his coffee. “That’s not so bad,” he said with a bit of surprise. “It’s not much different than hospital coffee.”

Encouraged by his reaction, Gwen took a sip. “I’ve had worse,” she agreed.

Benjamin looked into his mug. “This isn’t what I was expecting,” he said, tilting his mug so Gwen and the others could see the spices and milk in his tea. He took a sip. “It’s good!”

Gwen smiled at Benjamin and observed the team talking amongst themselves until a group of people walked into the coffee shop, clearly looking to for them. There were five men short in stature and dressed professionally. The person who asked at the front counter and was directed over to their table seemed to be the man in a position of authority, their guide.

“Those must be our guide and porters,” she said, standing up and waving them over.

One of the men, who had a small scar over his eyebrow, nodded toward them and started over. “Are you Torchwood?”

“Yes,” Gwen said. “If you would like to get drinks, we can sit down and talk about the upcoming trek.

Once they had ordered, they came back, and sat down at the table. Introductions were made. Their guide’s name was Raju and the porters names were Nischal, Bibek, Bijay, and Asim. Raju was going to act as translator for the others since they spoke English only poorly, and then they got down to business. Discussion about the expectations from the team, the porters, and the guide put them all on the same page for the trek. Transportation arrangements had been made, with the team and the guide and porters riding the bus to the start of the Kanchenjunga north loop, and flying back to Kathmandu from the small domestic airport at the end of the Kanchenjunga south loop. The team told the guide and porters as much as they could about the mission to find the Yeti, and what they were expecting to do if and when they found it.

After all the details were hashed out, and everyone understood what was going to occur over the next five weeks, Gwen asked, “Would you mind taking us on a tour of Kathmandu? We would love to see more of the city.”

The Nepalis agreed and the group trooped out of the coffee shop and into the bright, humid day. The team received a very detailed tour, with their guide pointing out temples, shops, and other points of interest around Kathmandu on a long and meandering walk. Gwen also made sure they found the right shops and bought the goggles, shoes, clothing, equipment, shelter, and plastic sheets required for the porters and guide to accompany them on their trip.

When it got closer to dinnertime, Gwen requested dinner at the Rum Doodle Restaurant and Bar.

“We have heard there are often people who have seen the Yeti gathered there,” Toshiko explained. “We would like to hear their stories.”

Raju agreed, and stepped forward to hail cabs.

After another dizzying ride, where Gwen thought surely she would be car-sick from the speed and seeming inattention of their driver, they were at the Rum Doodle Restaurant and Bar. Gwen paid the driver then followed Toshiko and Owen out. She looked back to see Ianto stepping out of the cab behind her, also looking slightly ill, Benjamin following. Their guide and porters arrived as well, and they headed up the stairs to the restaurant.

“Shall we?” Gwen asked, and proceeded to enter the restaurant.

Ianto followed and opened and held the door for the rest of the team.

Stepping inside, Gwen’s attention was immediately caught by the decor. There were massive cutouts of feet with writing on them everywhere in the restaurant. She looked closer at a cutout by the door: there were signatures and writings on it. She made a note to ask about them later.

“Namaste,” the woman behind the hostess stand greeted them, nodding towards Ianto, who had come up beside Gwen. Gwen understood it was the Nepali way to address men over women due to men’s higher social status, but when in Nepal, do as the Nepalis do. Still, she was starting to want to go back to Wales, where her command of Torchwood wouldn’t be seen as strange, and she would be seen as an equal, not below a male with her status. “How may I help you?”

“May we have a table for ten, please?” he asked. “We are a large group.”

“Of course, right this way,” she said, and led them to a table, passing out menus when they were seated. “Enjoy.”

“Thank you,” Gwen smiled at her.

“Namaste,” she replied, clasping her hands and bowing.

Gwen looked at the menu and decided what she would eat. She watched Toshiko and Benjamin, sitting across the table from her, Benjamin slightly leaning into Toshiko’s personal space. It appeared to Gwen that Toshiko didn’t mind.

The waiter came over and the team and their staff ordered their drinks and meals. As they waited for the drinks to come, they started to chat with each other and people at the table next to them, who had just come back from a trek.

“How was it?” Toshiko asked a woman with a friendly face. “We’re going on a trek starting tomorrow.”

“Oh, where are you going?” the woman asked with interest. “By the way, my name is Juliet.”

“Kanchenjunga,” Benjamin said. “We heard that was where we had to go to see the Yeti.”

“Oh, yes!” said another man at the table. “One of our guides has been on that trek. He said one of his family members saw a Yeti once there. He told us his story when we were sitting around the campfire one night. My name’s George.”

Gwen leaned forward. “What did it look like, George?”

As George described the same being that the guide’s cousin had seen, Gwen filed it away for further perusal. White, shaggy hair, taller than any normal man, with massive feet. It was a standard description, common in most Internet stories, but it was a start. Soon other members of the other table began adding their stories, and called over other people to share their stories as well. The amount of information had started to grow, to the point which Gwen was becoming certain that there was something not of this world living on the Kanchenjunga peak. She became determined to find it and help it. She didn’t want any creature to have to live on a strange planet lost and alone. Besides, it was what Jack would have done.

As Gwen and the rest of the team ate and continued to talk with their new acquaintances, they picked up tips and tricks. When it was time to go, they paid, then said good bye to everyone before leaving.

Outside, Gwen made sure that everyone knew when and where to meet for the bus that would take them to the start of the northern Kanchenjunga circuit, and the team said goodbye to their guide and porters who went back to their families for the night. Bracing herself for another slightly mad taxi ride, Gwen let Ianto hail the cabs.

Back at the hotel, Gwen and Toshiko headed up to their room. It would be another long day tomorrow.

~TW~TW~TW~TW~TW~


Owen woke up in his bed. He looked over to see Benjamin snoring beside him and Ianto on the cot.

Today was the day they were heading out to the starting point for the northern Kanchenjunga circuit. He was not looking forward to it and was slightly worried considering what had happened the last time they had gone camping, but there was nothing he could do about this assignment. He had complained to Gwen several times while they were making their arrangements for the trek, but she had simply given him a look which said Don’t push it. Knowing what retaliation she was capable of, the least of which was making him feed the Weevils for a month, he didn’t.

He climbed out of bed and stumbled toward the shower. This would be the last one he would have for five weeks, until they got back to civilization, and he intended to enjoy it.

When he wandered out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel over his hair, another slung low around his hips, Benjamin and Ianto were up and checking their packs, making sure they still had everything they needed.

Ianto looked up from buckling a strap. “Took you long enough. Did you leave any hot water for us?”

“ ’Course I did.”

Ianto nodded. “Right. I’m off to have my own shower then.”

“Enjoy,” Owen said.

He looked at Benjamin, who was still sorting through his pack. Owen liked Benjamin: he was smart enough, but still naive, as Gwen had been when she first started. Benjamin had a better track record his first week than Gwen had had: he hadn’t got anyone killed yet.

After a quick breakfast and making sure everything was taken care of, the team went to the bus station for the bus that would take them to the start of the Kanchenjunga circuit.

The ride was not what Owen was expecting. The driver went around hairpin corners without slowing down, causing Owen to curse under his breath. Owen was sitting on the right side, which had proved to be a bad decision. Every so often, before he could think better of it, he would look down the cliff face and see rusted out buses at the bottom, tangled in piles of metal. His stomach twisted into a knot, thinking about how that could possibly be them, if their driver wasn’t careful.

Owen was one of the first off when they reached their destination, and as he stood, with his pack leaning against his legs, he watched the rest of the team get off. Toshiko looked a bit green, and Owen almost felt sorry for her. The others looked like they hadn’t fared much better.

The team gathered, and Owen watched as their guide came over to talk with them.

“We can’t start tonight,” he said. Owen glanced over and saw that he was addressing Ianto. “We have to camp here tonight then start in the morning.”

Owen watched as Ianto and Gwen exchanged glances.

“That’s fine, we were expecting that,” Ianto agreed.

“I’ll have some camp staff set up your tents. We will wake you at six tomorrow morning to start hiking.”

Owen groaned silently to himself. He hated getting up at six, but that would be the norm for the next five weeks. He supposed he would have to get used to it. And have coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.

“Okay,” Ianto said. “Namaste.”

“Namaste,” their guide said, smiling.

Owen rolled his eyes at the exchange of greetings. Owen and the rest of the team watched as their staff set up their tents. A meal of dal bhat was cooked and consumed and it was finally time for the team to go to retire.

It would be a very long day tomorrow.



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