Warning – This fic disregards the series 2 finale altogether (actually – I tell a lie, I think I've explained things at some point!) But anyway – it's a smidge AU now….. It's also a bit spoilerish for Torchwood. You have been warned.

Summary – It's funny what you find when you go shopping for milk……

Chapter One

Gwen Cooper had always enjoyed an early morning run. It was a habit which she'd gotten into whilst she was at school. Having a large family such as she did she found that going for a short run in the morning gave her some time to think and enjoy her own company for a while. Of course now that she was older and had left the chaos of her childhood home behind she didn't need this time all that often but she still enjoyed a run as often as she could find time.

This morning she had decided to kill two birds with one stone. It was a lovely day out, a breezy September morning with just enough sunshine to make the external temperature pleasant without being overbearing, and she had a bit of extra time so she had decided to run to work rather than take the car as she normally would. She was nearly at work when she spotted something lying in the gutter that made her stop and take notice. A small silver chip, about the size of a playing card, was glistening in the sunlight from beneath some fallen leaves. Six months ago she probably wouldn't have noticed it lying there, let alone picked it up and pocketed it as she did now, but things had changed, she had changed. Six months ago she had switched jobs, leaving behind her safe career in the Police force for a more interesting and rewarding job. She was still involved in investigating, still had to use all the same skills she'd learnt as a police officer but now, she was learning, there was so much more to the world. This chip, although it didn't look much, was not something you'd expect to see just lying about like discarded rubbish. Something about it set alarm bells ringing in her head and so she decided, she would have to show it to her Boss.

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Jack Harkness sat behind his desk examining the chip his star worker had just given him. He knew there was a reason he liked Gwen Cooper. The Torchwood Institute only took the best and Gwen was definitely one of the best. He'd first met her back when he was new to the job. He'd been working with the local police force to track down a couple of dodgy con-men from the Scarlett-System and Gwen was one of the DC's assigned to the case. It hadn't taken him long to persuade her that her skills would be put to better use elsewhere and before he knew it she was part of his team, something which he was very happy about.

"Well, what do you think?" Gwen's question startled him out of his memories.

He sighed, turning the chip over in his hands. He knew exactly what the chip was but he wasn't about to tell her that. It was a vid-chip from early 51st Century Earth. That in itself he found slightly worrying. He knew the chip had nothing to do with him so he found himself wondering who else may be in the area with that had access to this sort of technology. Looking up at Gwen he realised she was waiting for an answer.

"Leave it with me." He told her, a forced smile on his face. "I'll see what I can find out."

Gwen looked at him quizzically. She could tell he was hiding something but she knew, as did the rest of his team, that if Jack Harkness didn't want to tell you something then no amount of persuasion would make him. With one last smile in his direction and a quick 'see you later' she turned and left the room.

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Owen was officially fed up. Most days he loved his job but today… well today was one of those days. Nothing was happening. Nothing had happened for weeks, not since the problem with the Delphines the previous month where some local children had taken to keeping a race of vicious alien predators as pets. Since they'd cleared that up however he had completed the paper work, filed it, logged all the details onto the network, sent the necessary reports out to other offices and then proceeded to re-design the filing system cross-referencing all the files by date, length, genre, author and even ink colour! Now he had finally run out of things to do and he was bored. He'd just finished doodle number three of the morning, a picture of a little house on a hill at sunrise, when Toshiko walked into the room.

"You alright Owen? Everything quiet?" she asked with a smile whilst setting down a cup of tea in front of him.

He'd just opened his mouth to tell her exactly how little was happening when a little light on the screen he was sitting in front of started flashing. He grinned eagerly at Toshiko,

"Not any more." He told her, "Code mauve. Let's go!" With a bemused grin, as they still failed to see why they'd had to start using mauve as opposed to red, they dashed out of the room together.

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Gwen met up with Owen and Toshiko in the kit room.

"What have we got?" Gwen asked as she grabbed her equipment, holstering the 'stun gun' that Jack insisted they all carry out in the field.

"Code Mauve." Replied Owen. "It's right on our doorstep too, up top."

Gwen looked intrigued, "I will never understand what is wrong with red." She sighed. "But really? That close? This I'm looking forward to seeing…"