m_findlow

Title: Unwanted intrusion
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Gwen
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Challenge 18 - Intruder at anythingdrabble
Summary: Gwen's new job has started intruding on her personal life.

The state of the flat was beyond comprehension. It didn't just annoy her, it frightened her.

These things that Jack had spoken about had come into her house and turned it upside down. She knew it was them by the telltale red rose petals, and the mountain of dried leaves that now covered the floor and everything else.

It wasn't just that they'd knocked over a bit of furniture. It was that they'd come in and willfully broken things; things that were precious to her and nobody else, that couldn't simply be replaced. There were ornaments she'd been gifted from her grandmother, and photos of her and Rhys, cushions they'd bought together when they'd first moved in, now ripped and ruined.

She'd always known that being in the police meant you painted a target on your own back, and that there was always the chance you upset the wrong troublemaker, who made it their mission to repay you in kind. Fortunately, it had never happened to her though.

This though... This was different. This was something else coming after her, all because she'd gotten caught up in something her new boss had dragged her into. They knew where she lived, a thought that was more than disconcerting. If they knew that, what else did they know? Was this just a warning for her to stop interfering in their business, or part of a larger plan to come after her? Would they stop if she walked away, or would they pursue her as revenge for Jack refusing to let things go. They'd already killed Estelle, and she'd been completely innocent, thinking these horrible creatures were something joyous and beautiful. They were neither. They were evil and vindictive, just as Jack had warned her. If nothing else convinced her, the circle of stones left in her living room certainly did.

Rhys of course had gone mental. It was all she could do to usher him straight back out, insisting that it was a crime scene now, and that her boss would need him out of the way until they searched it for evidence. He wasn't at all happy, and she couldn't blame him. Ever since she'd started this job, they'd been on rocky ground with it. From the first time she'd had to walk out on their date, to the long hours and erratic schedules. The police force hadn't been much different except that her hours, however odd, were pre-scheduled. The real difference was that now she felt in danger in her own home. These things had intruded on her small sanctuary, and there was no knowing whether they'd return.

Perhaps she should have insisted that she and Rhys stay somewhere else tonight, but Jack promised to keep an eye on the place, for all the good she thought it might do. He hadn't been able to stop them before. As she lay there in bed, wrapped up in Rhys arms, all she could think of was that troop train in Lahore.