#strtravels [ed southgate]

[earthdcfended]

@strtravels gets a thing because I said so

"I'd rather stand, if that's all the same to you." There's a sharp edge to Howie's tone - it's one that very rarely comes out, and it's one that certainly hasn't been directed at Ed, before. But where there's Ed, there's Kate, and Howie had made his feelings about Kate and her part in Jacqui's disappearance very clear, less than an hour ago. That has to be what this is about, and even if it isn't, he is in no mood to be dressed down by management for his conduct.

"So, can we just get this over with so that we can both get on with our days?"

[earthdcfended]

As much as having the freedom to defy his uncle was thrilling, Howie knew better than to keep bushing. Or rather, he knew better than to keep pushing outright. Still didn't wipe the defiant glint in his eye as he popped the glove box back open and reclaimed the note, though. Howie still had a plan, and it did not involve the note leaving thar car with either of them when they reached their final destination.

"I'll just tell my mum how much it cost, then. I dare you to try telling her no." He might be done pushing his luck with the note, but that didn't mean he was doing pushing his luck about paying altogether. He appreciated the lift. He really did. Without Ed, he would still be stuck in an A&E in the middle of Bristol, likely with a doctor waving the Capacity Act in his face. But more than anything, Howie just wanted to contribute something to his own reunion with his parents.

As the political debate ended and the continuity announcer took over, Howie found himself once again reminded of the date. A few times, now, but only now that the tension of everything was beginning to fade and the monotony of facing a further two and a half hours of driving made him think of what that actually meant. Three weeks gone. He missed a Magic the Gathering tournament he'd been looking forward to for months. He missed the new X-Men movie he and Gordy were meant to go to on its first day in cinemas. And he'd missed... Diana's birthday. "Did... Did Diana have a good birthday? I... I-- I did get her a present. I... got her some loom bands."

Howie’s voice was hoarse and quiet – the political debate coming from the radio nearly swallowed it. But he had heard it. Howie’s voice. Speaking again. A quick, smart quip, that made him think that Howie had spent too much time with Josh over the years – and perhaps all the kids, because they all had their own wittiness. Couldn’t get a word out in that house without some cheeky answer coming from one of them sometimes. Just like now. Only difference was, that he found it hard to keep a stern expression on his face (even harder than usually) and couldn’t help the chuckle. Relief. More weight falling off his shoulders. Whatever had happened to Howie, at least it hadn’t taken his voice or changed him – too much? He knew any traumatic experience would change you; sometimes just slightly and sometimes…

Shook the thought off and smiled at Howie, before turning his eyes back to the road. “ – You know exactly what I’ve meant by that. Now, go on! Get that tenner out of the glove box and shove it back in your pocket. There’s summat you can spend it on, and it’s not going to be petrol for this car ride. Do you honestly think I give a toss about fifty quid when it’s about getting you back home to your mum and dad?” Gave him another look; the answer clear as day in his eyes.

“ – and as I said: Kate’s going to agree with me, so she’s not going to be happy finding that somewhere in the glove box when she’s looking for a CD or her sunglasses.” They had all just been worried about Howie, after all. He had seen it on the kids’ faces and his wife’s, too. Even Diana’s birthday had been – odd. While he couldn’t say the (second) youngest of their children had spent as much time with her cousin as the two oldest, she still, somewhat, looked up to him, and he had been missing at the table as they had shared the cake, pretending that everything was normal and would be alright. At least their HOPES hadn’t been for nothing.

Turned the car around a corner; the fast food restaurant coming into sight at the end of the road. “ – and just ‘cause I know you – NO, you’re not paying for your own meal either.”

[mattellaneous]

@strtravels (Ed) asked: i think we can set aside our differences for two minutes and work this out.

Jacqui has faced aliens, CEO's of major corporations with a bone to pick and even the Prime Minister being less than thrilled about one of her articles. None of which has caused her more stress than being stuck in a small room with Edward Southgate, head of HR for UNIT and a mysterious object that has been beeping ominously for the past 20 minutes. While her relationship with UNIT has improved somewhat with the years, her relationship with Ed has remained frosty at best. Press her on it and Jacqui will admit that she's the cause of most of the hostility but she has her reasons. Reasons which make it challenging to be stuck in a room with him without wanting to tear his throat out.

Deep breath, McGee.

She closes her eyes and lets out a very deep sigh. Set aside differences for two minutes and figure it out. Get out of this room and back to her life. Chin to her chest, deep breath in... She opens her eyes and looks at Ed. Lips pursed, she shakes her head lightly. She cannot believe she's about to say this. "Fine, two minutes. What do you need me to do?"

[earthdcfended]

@strtravels | you asked for this

It would have been nice to say that things had calmed down in the days following Howie's outburst. It would have been nice to say that he had apologised to those he had lost his temper with and that he had accepted his removal from active duty in stride. But that would be optimistic, and during times such as these, optimism was just wishful thinking. Jacqui was still missing. The arch was still dormant. The Eleven was still refusing the co-operate, by all accounts.

At least, there was one person Howie knew he could make amends with, and with Ed is was usually easy enough to make amends. They'd crossed paths a few times in recent days - just never in a social capacity. They had only crossed paths as the head of personnel and an employee referred to occupational health. Best to leave a calling card, first.

That calling card consisted of a bottle of Jonnie Walker and a hand-written note. Sorry for being an arse. Ed would know. Howie knew he would.

[earthdcfended]

@strtravels put a gun to my head so that I would write this

With how quickly everything had gone so utterly wrong, it was no wonder that Howie was on edge. He had discovered that his wife was a sleeper agent for the very species that she had been trapped with for months. She had tried to kill Osgood - tried to kill him. Kate had vanished from Woolwich for ten minutes and emerged having speet much longer on the other side of her arch. The Vulpreen and temporal displacement had a hell of a lot to answer for, and even over a week later, Howie couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to come. Imminently.

Kate was still herself. Or, she was on the outside. Every second he had spent in that room, Howie had found himself watching her closely. Searching her movements and mannerisms for signs of Vulpreen intervention. He'd found none, of course, but he hadn't seen any in Jacqui at first. Jacqui hadn't come home and immediately started acting in the service of Lord Varliss, unto eternity. It had started slowly, and if they had dug their claws into a civilian like that, who knows what they had done to Kate on the other side of that temporal displacement...

Ed had to know what could be in store. Howie had to warn him. Couldn't do it out of nowhere, though... had to do it with a peace offering, first. The coffee in the UNIT medical centre was surprisingly good for hospital coffee - not quite Ed's Starbucks, but it would do.

"Have you, er--?" No. He couldn't start it with a question. There was no easing into this. "Listen. Before you go in there... there's something you need to know about... about Kate. I might be wrong. I really hope I am. But you need to be aware in case I'm right. I'm not a hundred per cent sure that Kate is herself."

[earthdcfended]

“And here I was thinking the firearms proficiency training was last Thursday.” Either he got the date wrong, or he'd purposefully been given the wrong date so that if he had tried to avoid it, he'd end up calling in sick on the wrong day. It had to be the latter - Howie had checked his calendar this morning and there was nothing about firearms proficiency training on it. Oh, Ed was crafty.

“I know how to use a gun. Kind of. Do I really need a piece of paper saying so? I'm a tech - we don't really use guns. And I don't even think Major Langley is n today, so-- so I couldn't do it today, anyway.”

@strtravels liked for a starter

[earthdcfended]

@strtravels (Ed) said: ⭐⭐

Lauri knows Ed's Starbucks order by heart and will usually bring it in for him if she's been there.

Lauri calls him a Dirty Scouser. Ed calls her a Filthy Manc. They're terms of endearment.

[earthdcfended]

@strtravels [Ed] said: “calling it coffee helps.”

Howie stares at the cup of what he can only describe as murky sadness. Ditching the real stuff had definitely been the hardest part of the last four and a half years spent in hiding. No more energy drinks. No more coffee. At least there's herbal tea, and... whatever the hell this decaf crap is.

"It really doesn't. You're just getting the worst parts of drinking black coffee. How can you drink this stuff without, like, a metric ton of sugar?"

[earthdcfended]

@strtravels (Ed) said: ☎️

NAME: Ed Southgate

RINGTONE: Sky Takes the Soul by the Proclaimers

PICTURE: 

LAST TEXT RECEIVED: Does Maureen need anything specific for her birthday?

LAST TEXT SENT: She's really into ferrets at the moment. Go wild. Don't actually go wild - we already have an actual ferret. We don't need another.

[earthdcfended]

"You-- You can't--"

He's shaking. Unsteady on his feet. But Howie is doing everything in his power to prevent entry into the room behind him. Nobody is getting in there. After everything the Auctioneers have put them through, he is not stepping down now just because reinforcements have arrived. They have pushed him to the limits of what the artron energy in his body can handle. They pushed Choe further than that, and in a latch ditch effort - the nuclear option - she had paid the ultimate price.

Protect her body. Treat her with dignity. It's what she deserves.

The gun isn't his. But he is doing his damndest to make it seem like it is, because these people - whoever they are - are not getting past him. Part of him thinks he recognises those uniforms, but... no. The recognition doesn't quite shift into understanding. He squares his shoulders, gun raised.

"You can't have her."

@ventureheart and @strtravels should be prepared for the pain

[earthdcfended]

Some might say that Lieutenant Southgate (@strtravels) is the... 'Ed of Personnel

[earthdcfended]

"Oh--!" He'd almost forgotten! How could he forget the most important piece of technology he'd prepared for Ed? Howie started digging around in drawers for the little handheld projector he'd set to one side as soon as he heard Ed would be going back into the field. Amidst scraps, reports he really ought to file and - oh, that's where that size 3 screwdriver went - he found it.

It sat flat in the palm of his hand. "Here. The USB should be automatic, but if you do get stuck with the data transfer, just hit that button, there." He pointed to the small button on the right. "And the other button when you're done. It'll be like I'm in the room with you. A pocket-Howie, if you like."

He may have borrowed it from Osgood, specifically so that Ed would be able to tap into him as a contact throughout this mission. He just hoped it would all be enough and that Ed would be alright. He knew Ed would be alright. "Just-- y'know. Bring it back in one piece."

Perhaps he was the only one pointing out his age – it was something he had to think about, after all. Just like Colonel Shindi, he was getting close to an age where retirement was a possibility and while he was sure nobody would (or possibly could) force him, it was still an occasional thought to cross his mind. More on the days when he was on the phone with some high-up in Geneva, who didn’t listen to a single thing he was saying, rather than days like this. Oh, it would have been a lie to say he wasn’t at least a little EXCITED about this. One undercover mission for the good old times, eh?

“ – holodrive, gun, thumb drive. I guess that’s not a bad collection. A lot more tech than you used to carry into a mission like this. – And the communicator. At least I know how to use that one already.” A small smile directed at Howie, before he had turned to his desk and picked up the device issued to any operative on a mission for a while now. 3D hologram technology – certainly beats the old radios, they used to be stuck with.

A REAL LAUGH at the way Howie addressed him. “ – Wearing the right suits, aren’t I? But a question about that thumb drive. I guess I just plug it into the main computer, and I’m done? Or are you – or Osgood – standing by on comms just in case it’s not as easy as that?”

[earthdcfended]

Lieutenant E. G. Southgate. Not a name that rang enough bells for Howie to particularly nervous. He was already nervous enough about this meeting - it isn't every day that you get headhunted for a government organisation known among conspiracy theorists as the cloak and dagger alien hunters. Especially because, until last year, he was one of those conspiracy theorists. He knew about UNIT. He knew about their often less-than-savoury methods. Or rather, he knew about what they used to be like. During his interview, Howie had come to realise that UNIT had changed a lot with its leadership. They had demilitarised. His aunt ran their London medical centre. It had to be different than the organization he'd had to all but hide from in order to study abroad.

The lieutenant's secretary was nice enough, if not a little terrifying - more stern than anything else. He wasn't sure what to expect by Lieutenant Southgate. A cigar chomping army guy ready to rip him to shreds for looking at him wrong? A humourless grump who cared about bureaucracy and nothing else? He had not idea what to expect when it was his time to enter the Lieutenant's office.

He certainly didn't expect HIS UNCLE of all people.

In the doorway of that office, Howie stood there, mouth agape. He hadn't seen his Uncle Ed for a few years - since before he went off to the US to study for his PhD. But the man before him, with his ill-fitting tie and floppy hair, was unmistakeable his uncle. He had half a mind to turn around. He remembered Ed once discouraged him from digging too far into research that could come back to haunt him. It was clear now why he discouraged that.

"Howie's, um... Howie's fine. Do I call you Lieutenant Southgate? I'm guessing uncle Ed isn't really appropriate, in this case."

Howard Michael Spragg. The name was of course familiar, even though nobody had called him HOWARD the last time he had seen each other. He was sure Ruth had mentioned at some point that he still preferred to be called by his nickname – and he made a mental note of it, so he could add it to the file laying in front of him on his jam-full desk, covering a few other files of unsuccessful candidates for the job Howie was getting now. Recommended by his aunt, after his own alien encounter. Adventure? It sounded too positive, if he thought about it this way, and what he had heard about it was anything but positive. Poor Howie. – And he hadn’t even known he had been gone and his sister, his brother-in-law and his sisters worried. Too focused on his own recovery still and getting used to his new job. NOT AN EXCUSE IN HIS BOOK.

He swallowed as there was a knock on the door, even though it hadn’t been fully closed anyway. “Come in!” Words friendly as he stood up from his chair and looked into a familiar face. It had been – how long since they had last actually seen each other? But his sister still had pictures. Of course, she had. A HINT OF A SMILE TUGGING ON THE CORNERS OF HIS LIPS as he waited for a reaction. Perhaps Howie didn’t even recognise him. Sometimes he didn’t recognise himself in the mirror any more. Oh, now he was just being dramatic. About a year in the job. He had changed. Demilitarisation.

HAND HELD OUT; smile still on his lips. “It’s nice to see you, Howie. – Or would you prefer being called Dr. Spragg as this is a professional setting?” | @earthdcfended

[venturoushearta]

Clara's eyes were closed, fingers intertwined and squeezing tightly as her head was bowed, nose to her knuckles as she recited the healing shabad under her breath. It was the first time that she'd been truly alone with her thoughts since everything happened. Nothing had stopped for what seemed like forever, and Ed's presence had been something of a balm. Stopped the nasty thoughts creeping up on her, keeping her hopeful. At least a little bit.

It wasn't even anything he'd said they hadn't even spoken a lot at all, but him being there was a comfort. A distraction even. He loved Kate. She knew that feeling about him, the look in his eyes. The look you had when you couldn't imagine your life without someone, they were that important and DEAR to you. She had questions that she didn't ask because it wasn't the sort of time, but it was there. She knew that much.

She looked at him with weary brown eyes and smiled, straightening up. "Thanks." She could do with it right about now actually, and she held her hand out to take one of the cups. "No news can be GOOD NEWS sometimes, right?" She paused, her smile trying maybe a little too much. "At least she's not dead."

KNUCKLES WHITE; grasping on the two mugs he was carrying for dear life and composure, as if worried that the moment he lost his focus on the liquid inside, he would just drop him; drenching himself in hot tea, because his hands would be shaking. With fear. With anger. With the weight of realisation on his shoulders, that he would rather forget now.

He placed them down on the small table in the waiting area, leaving his hands feeling empty – the itch to do something, when there was nothing he could do. ONLY WAITING. And hoping that the worst thoughts rushing through his head wouldn’t come true.

“ – I got us some tea.” She didn’t have to drink it; if he was honest, he wasn’t in the mood for a cup of tea either. It just had been something to do after the medic had brushed him off. For the better, he knew. They were busy. Saving. Assessing.

 “ – There’s no news, however...Nothing.” | @venturousheart