Meeting Evan Martin

[tigerstriped86.livejournal.com]

Title: Meeting Evan Martin
Author: tigerstriped86
Fandom/Pairing: Doctor Who/Torchwoodverse.  Implied Lisa/Ianto.
Rating: PG-13 (for stuff like adults drinking in a bar)

Disc.: I don't own Lisa or Ianto, but Evan is a character from my own mind.  Please no suing, no infringement is intended.  This is simply based upon my love of the Doctor Who/Torchwood fandom and the fact that I can't not write about it.
Prompt 129: Black out
Summary: As part of my fanfic100 challenge, I explore the relationship of Lisa Hallett (pre-Cyberwoman) and Ianto Jones.  This part of the story relates how Lisa entered Torchwood One, Ianto joins the fight later.

See the arc from the start: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4242136/40/Fanfic100_Come_Around_Knocking

 

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The place was noisy and crowded for a Thursday night. Lisa didn’t go out to bars or clubs very often and it seemed abnormal to her for people to want to be in such a confined space with others that were on their way towards inebriation. Ianto hadn’t called today or yesterday to apologize. In the back of her mind, Lisa was hoping that he would. But she had more important matters than her own love life gone awry.

 

There was no one here with any sort of laptop case, but several had cellular telephones. Lisa could identify easily the ones with Internet connections and the girls that were attached to them didn’t scream cybernetic genius to her. Of course, Lisa’s chic bob, hoop earrings and low-rise vintage jeans didn’t quite scream hacker either. The world was just full of uncertainties in that way.

 

A man in the shadows caught her interest. He was slightly older than most of the patrons, but wore the same uniform of middle management. White shirt, light blue tie hung loosely around his neck. The man’s brew sat half-drunk and he seemed to be typing a message from his cell phone. It seemed like an unusual model as Lisa looked from her stool out of the corner of her eye. It almost seemed as though he was moving the phone sideways to type. But that couldn’t be possible. That kind of technology didn’t exist yet.

 

The man moved away from his solemn table and surged back through the chaos towards the door. Lisa waited for a brief moment to finish her drink. She didn’t want the man to suspect that she was following him. Of course, the lead could be false. After all, businessmen were always receiving test phone models when they worked for certain companies. But he seemed different somehow from the average businessmen. Lisa’s gut told her to follow the lead.

 

Luckily, the man was outdoors lighting a cigarette. He leaned against the building, his trench coat nonchalantly blowing in the slight breeze. It was getting too warm for a coat of such length. Lisa casually leaned against the building not far away and pretended to rummage through her purse. She swore softly and then looked helplessly at the man. 

 

“Damn, can you help me?”

 

The older gentlemen looked toward Lisa. “And how might I help you, miss?”

 

“It seems that my phone is nowhere to be found.  Horrible habit I have of carrying too much in my bag. Might I borrow yours?”

 

The man shook his head, returning to his cigarette. “I’m sorry Ms. Hallett, I don’t have a phone that you could borrow.”

 

“I’m sorry, but I don’t recall telling you my name.”

 

“You should be smart enough to recognize that I didn’t have to wait for introductions. You are good, Lisa, but very inexperienced.”

 

“I’m sorry?” Lisa was quite confused.

 

“Let me explain. You have to be more convincing when trying to see my Blackberry. I noticed you eyeing the phone from your stool. But if you’d noticed the chair two tables behind mine, then you would have been able to see that I was sending you a message.”

 

“To my cell phone?”

 

“Not quite. Check your email, Ms. Hallett.” 

 

“Who are you?”

 

“A friend of a friend. Congratulations, Ms. Hallett. You’ve taken your first steps into a much larger world. Follow me, we should talk in an area that doesn’t have the noise of a dull jet engine roar.”

 

“Why should I follow you?”

 

“Of course. How rude of me. I haven’t introduced myself.” Evan extended his hand towards Lisa. “My name is Evan Martin. I believe you know my younger sister Ali.

 

Lisa took his hand hesitantly. “And what does Ali have to do with any of this?”

 

Evan’s eyes twinkled and his reassuring smile put Lisa at ease. “We should take refuge in that coffee shop across the street. I promise to answer any questions you might have.”

 

Minutes later, they sat with their coffees and Lisa took a sip of something strong and bitter from the Turkish section. Her apple croissant was a welcome respite. “So, you haven’t told me what Ali’s connection is to this.”

 

Evan’s eyebrow’s furrowed. “I’m surprised you haven’t figured it out. After all, with your performance against the Dune comet, I would have thought you would understand.”

 

“Is that what that thing was called? And what did Ali tell you? There was no reporting about it as I suspected there should have been.”

 

“Well, yes. We like to put a label on much of what we can, for archiving purposes. Ali told me enough that my department was able to curtail any real investigation.”

 

“Excuse me, did you say we?” Lisa leaned in across the table.

 

“Of course I did. You don’t think that the code you cracked was just something of a coincidence, did you?”

 

Lisa leaned back in her chair. “I was afraid it wasn’t. It was too clean. I knew that when I found the doctored files in my encoded history files that someone was onto me. I was just glad to keep Ianto from getting involved.”

 

“Young Mr. Jones is involved though. But that’s important at another time.”

 

“How do you know about my boyfriend?”

 

“We know a great deal about you and your connections, Ms. Hallett. In fact, barring your first field test, we’d like to offer a task of employment to you. There are not a great many benefit, however the Queen would be quite indebted to you for the service.”

 

“The Queen? An underground position of protection of sorts?”

 

Evan nodded, passing Lisa a card. “Read this just once. Afterwards, the information will recede in such a way that only a special light from the building can read it. You’ll need to find that address within a few hours. Your test will be there.”

 

Lisa cocked her head, not yet reading the information. “Is it worth the risk?”

 

Evan smiled. “If you’re the type of person I believe you to be, it will be.”

 

“Is this just a spy job then?”

 

“No, Lisa. You’ll become the code writer for the news across online London, working in my department. This test is more of a mere formality than anything else.”

 

“And why should I trust you?”

 

“Because a lesser agent might have poisoned your coffee from jealousy.” 

 

Lisa’s eyes turned from the card back to Evan as her voice went up an octave. “Poison? You’ve poisoned me?”

 

Evan shook his head. “This poison is just more of a sleeping draught. If you decline to join Torchwood One, you’ll forget both the meeting and the code you’ve discovered. And you know that I have the ability to wipe any files that I must.”

 

“Is Ianto in danger?” Lisa internally gripped herself tight.

 

“No. Not if you don’t put him in that kind of danger. Ms. Hallett, we don’t choose hastily. You’re the right person for this if you’ll just trust yourself. Go to the address. You won’t be disappointed.” 

 

Lisa took a cab from the coffee shop, turning the blank card in her hands. Lisa fumbled with her purse and the miscellaneous contents therein. She was nervous; having dialed Ianto’s number once after getting in the cab. She had hung up just as quickly and ignored him. No, I have to keep him away from this. I set out on this quest. Now I have to find where it leads. Lisa tuned out the driver and the radio from Bangladesh. The taxi couldn’t move quickly enough, the world seemed to stop around her. What was Torchwood? What was she getting herself into?

 

The building looked incredibly normal from the outside. Another of the cookie cutter and unexpressive towers of commerce and trade in the center of the business district, and yet, a sense of foreboding hit Lisa as the cab driver screeched to a halt. She would have to trust her instincts and her own quick thinking. If this were a bad situation, Lisa would have to trust in herself and her own capabilities. Wait a minute, Lisa thought. I’m not weak or insecure. I’m smart, attractive, and capable. This is my life and I will not lose control.

 

Lisa’s back straightened as she moved from the cab to the door. The building seemed locked at every entrance and most of the guards ignored her impatient pounding. She didn’t want to fall faint here on the street from whatever sleeping drug had gone into her coffee. There was a small slot near a stone proclaiming the creation date of the building. She shrugged and slid the card through, thinking that it might be like one of the hotel keys she wasn’t so fond of. 

 

There was a click as one of the doors swung open under her grip. She stepped through the clear entrance and was met by a nonchalant guard flipping through several television cameras placed throughout the building. 

 

“My name is Lisa Hallett. Will you direct me where I need to go?”

 

“Do you have an appointment with Ms. Lennox?” His voice was incredibly bored and monotone. Neither did he make any attempt to look at her.

 

“No. I was sent here by an Evan Martin.”

 

“Never heard of him.”

 

“Well… he works for…Torchwood One.” Lisa hesitated, moving through her memory.

 

The guard finally took a moment to look at Lisa and then blinked. “Never heard of it. Someone’s yanking your chain miss. Best to head home.”

 

Lisa’s own fear was building into a fire of impatience. “I will not go home. I demand to know why Evan Martin would send me here and why a card would allow me entrance if this was not the place to go?” Even Lisa was surprised by the harshness in her own voice.

 

“Now just calm down ma’am. Here, I’ll send you up to Ms. Lennox’s secretary if it will make you feel any better. You’ll just have to go through that security clearance metal detector. Is that alright?”

 

Lisa felt herself calming down as progress began in the journey once again. “Yes. I believe that would be quite helpful.”

 

“Alright then. If you’ll just please step through.”

 

Lisa followed the direction of the guard’s arm. She noticed a slight charge to the air as she came upon the metal detector. There was a brief and sudden spark that shot through the air while she was in the midst of the detector. Before she blacked out, Lisa knew the place had been a trap and she had fallen for it. Each volt that coursed through her body before her eyes closed and her breath shortened reminded her as such.

”