Fandom: Torchwood

Characters: Rex Matheson, Esther Drummond

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG

Length: 1,514 words

Content notes: Spoilers for Season 4 - Miracle Day

Author notes: Written for Challenge 277 - Cross

Summary: Rex's trip to the UK is fraught with cross cultural headaches.


"Welcome to London Heathrow. We do hope you've enjoyed your flight," the intercom chirped out. Rex flipped the seatbelt open and groaned. Everything hurt. His back, his neck, his arm, and none of that compared to his shoulder. He'd lost track of how many times he'd used the bathroom, not only to suck down a few more painkillers, but also to replace his bandages. He was goddamn CIA and here he was traveling economy class and patching himself up with airline quality toilet paper. Friedkin was going to owe him big time.

'Yo,' he said, trying to flag down the brunette air hostess who ignored him on her way past. 'Hey!' Rex yelled louder. She twirled and scowled at him. 'I'll have my phone back now,' he said, giving her the eye for having taken it off him in the first place. He hadn't done anything to endear himself to her in the intervening hours since then either. Apparently British airline staff didn't care about homeland security. And then there was that arsehole next to him that backed her up and snatched his phone right out of his hand. Who the hell did he think he was, anyway? Mind your own goddamn business is what he'd wanted to say, but didn't.

She clenched her teeth together, knowing she couldn't deny him any longer now that they were on the tarmac. 'One moment, sir.'

'Thank you.' Ten and a half hours he'd been out of contact. Anything could have happened by now. Even the in-flight news service had only been running repeats of what he already knew.

No sooner was he off the plane than he was being flanked on both sides by uniformed officers. He knew the type, trying to corral him off to the side without alarming everyone else in the terminal. 'If you'd come with us please, sir?'

Rex saw the guy that had been sitting next to him on the flight saunter past him, but not before turning his head back and giving Rex a smug little wave. Son of a bitch. If he'd reported Rex to the cops he was a dead man, even if you couldn't kill a guy anymore. Rex reckoned he could still maim him real good. He'd enjoy messing up that wannabe poster boy face.

'Yeah, you keep walking pal,' Rex warned him even as the officers gathered closer to his sides. 'Seriously? What the hell is this?' he asked as one of them slipped a card into a security panel on the door and ushered him through into a separate corridor. Now that they were out of earshot of everyone else, he let discretion slide. He pulled his ID out of his pocket. 'Agent Rex Matheson, CIA. I'm on special assignment.'

'Yes, we're aware of that, sir. We were instructed to meet you on arrival.'

'Oh,' Rex said, a little surprised. Either British intelligence weren't as stupid as he thought or Esther had come through with the goods. 'Well, good then. You've got my requisition 15?' Please tell me Esther managed that much. He felt naked without a gun and even more so in a foreign country, even if it was only the UK. He'd read the files on these Torchwood people. They'd done some crazy shit, if half of it was to be believed. He didn't want to come up against them unarmed. People who did crazy shit were often... well, crazy.

The first officer frowned at Rex's question. 'Requisition 15?'

'My gun, man.' He made an imitation of one with his fingers for emphasis. Jesus. Lost in translation and he hadn't even made it through customs yet.

'Ah. Yes, your requisition 31,' the officer replied.

Rex rolled his eyes. 'Whatever.' Couldn't they even have the same goddamn number? He might have ended up with a packet of plastic explosive, or a fresh toothbrush. 'You got it?' If they said no, he was going to be pissed off. He wasn't leaving here without one. Didn't these turkeys get how important he was?

Fortunately he didn't have to have that argument with them. They lead him through to a small interrogation room where a small metal boxed sat locked on the table.

'We'll need you to sign for this, and also to provide your credentials and international security clearance code.' Rex bustled through the formalities, keeping one eye firmly fixed on the box until the second officer finally extracted a small key and unlocked it, revealing the semiautomatic weapon lying inside. Rex noted the German model, not his preferred choice, but good enough for now. He inspected the clip before sliding it in, making sure they weren't about to give him a half empty clip.

'Pleasure doing business with you,' Rex replied, slipping the gun into the back of his belt. A pity they didn't offer him a proper holster for it but who the hell cared. He grabbed his phone and began dialing Esther to pick up where they'd left off.

'We still need to finalize your visa,' the officer told him just as he was about to make for the door. He gave them a look that said he didn't think they were being serious. He huffed a sigh and threw his passport down on the table. 'Do what you gotta do. I've gotta make a call. Be done with that by the time I get to the other end of this hall.' He was getting out of here pronto. 'Esther. Yeah, I've landed. Getting my arse busted by airport security. You can't speed up this bullshit, can you?'

'Sorry, Rex. You won't believe the paperwork it takes to get the UK government to issue a weapon to a US citizen. You've got the easy end of it.'

He shrugged his shoulders, casting a glance back into the room where to two officers were scrutinizing his passport. 'Doesn't feel like to me. So, what have you been doing since I went incommunicado?'

He could hear her fingertips clacking keys even as she replied. 'Trying to track down any known associations for Cooper and Harkness.'

'And?' He brushed off an officer until he realised they were handing him back his passport and escorting him towards the exit.

'Hi. So, where the hell was I?'

'Current and former Torchwood contacts,' Esther replied. 'I managed to source the only electronic files we have. Turns out not everything was still stored on paper after all.' She paused. 'Only it's high level. Beyond my clearance.'

'Right.' That wasn't a problem. He had clearance. He strode up to the rental car counter and flashed them his ID. The woman behind the desk smiled politely and gathered up the keys from a small drawer. 'The password's Madrid 66211. That's Madrid with a capital M. Now go through that list and scan through their records using a level one filter. You should highlight anything with a red flag or a caution pertaining to Homeland Security.'

There was a wait whilst she starting running the filter. He brusquely signed the insurance waiver form on the clipboard handed to him and clutched the keys from her hand, tipping her a smile as he left. Rex held his breath as he navigated the meandering travelers, waiting for that all important ping that would flag a result on the other end of the line.

'I've got one positive response. Police Sergeant Andrew Davidson, Cardiff resident. There's a note in his file says he was Gwen Cooper's unofficial liaison. I can access his private calls.'

Rex burst out through the sliding doors and across the parking lot, quickly finding his rental car under the large green company banner and stopped a second before remembering he had to use the right hand side. Goddamn British. Did they had to do everything backwards? 'Okay. I'm here. What's the quickest way to get to Cardiff?'

'Um,' Esther said, pouring over mapping data overlaid with current traffic conditions. 'You need to get onto the M4. It's about a three and half hour drive from there.'

Rex gripped the steering wheel. 'Three and a half hours? You gotta be kidding me. I thought this was a little dump of a country?'

'It's two countries, Rex. Well, four technically if you include Scotland and Northern Ireland.'

He snapped open the bottle of painkillers that had been nestled in his pocket. He studied the contents of the bottle counting them out. How the hell was he meant to make it all the way there on this? 'Alright, at least it'll give you time to check out those phone records. Call me back as soon as you get anything. I wanna know everything about this Davidson down to what colour underwear he put on this morning.'

'Will do. Oh, and Rex?'

He slipped the key in the ignition and turned it. 'What?'

'Try and remember to drive on the right side of the road.'

'You mean the left, right?'

'Right.'

Rex suppressed a chuckle. 'Now I know you're just messing with me.'

He could practically hear the smile on her face. 'As if I'd do that.'