Fic Commentary: Behind the Curtain - Part Two
Title: Behind the Curtain
Author: Aeron Lanart
Genre: Crossover - Torchwood, Highlander and goodness knows what else.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Torchwood S1 and S2, particularly Exit Wounds. Don't read this if you haven't seen Torchwood ep 13!
Warnings: It's leaning toward the crack side
Summary: There's a place on the banks of the River Denial where everyone is welcome.
Disclaimer: Not mine. If any of the universes involved belonged to me, there wouldn't be a need for Denial fic!
Part 2: Tosh's story
There was always going to be Tosh's story, I just hadn't decided at the time I wrote the first part how I was going to approach it.
~*~
Tosh remembered a comforting arm around her. There was nothing and no-one there now; no Jack, no Gwen, no Ianto, no pain.
Tosh had always struck me as a very lonely person, the team were all the family she had. I felt her first reactions would be about the *lack* of things (unlike Owen, who'd gained).
No pain. Her fingers trembled as she carefully felt for the gaping hole in her belly that her life had poured out from. It had disappeared. She opened her eyes, fumbling around her for something, anything to tell her where she was, but she recognised nothing. The room was in semi-darkness, the air still, the sound of her scrabbling against the unyielding floor muted as if the room were soundproofed,
I wanted to rack up the suspense a bit here, to give an idea of the panic Tosh must have been feeling. Again it contrasts with part one - no welcoming party for Tosh. But then...
although she was aware of the reassuring hum that she associated with computers; the sound of cooling fans and electricity, things she understood.
Even in an unknown room in semi darkness she takes comfort in technology.
Somewhere she heard a dull thud, then light bloomed, and she closed her eyes against it. Then there was an arm around her, but not one that she recognised.
“You’re safe now, I’ve got you.” The woman’s voice was soft, unthreatening.
Now she gets her welcoming party; it was just a bit late. I felt it was important to echo the first line, the comfort in being held. And who is this woman with the soft voice?
“How... where...?” Tosh found to her disgust that her voice didn’t seem to be working properly, and then there were soft fingers against her throat and a feeling of warmth spreading out from the point of contact on her skin.
Was that spread of warmth just from the human contact, or was it something else? I implied like hell, but wanted to leave that decision of just what it was up to the readers rather than shoving something in their faces.
“That should be a little better, now. As for where you are, you’re in our computer core. No idea why you came through here.”
It's Tosh, of course she's in the computer core. It's probably the place she would feel safest and would find most comforting. Again, it's a contrast with Owen.
“Came through? Is this the afterlife? Am I dead?” Tosh was pleased to note that her voice was stronger, though she could feel the edges of hysteria pressing against her mind.
Even when she wants to freak out, she's ever the scientist; questioning, needing to know. I love Tosh.
“If it is it’s like no afterlife I’ve ever heard of, and it does take some getting used to. And as for whether you’re dead, the answer to that is not any more. If you want to discuss the metaphysical aspects of that, I’d suggest taking it up with Darius or Zhaan; they're our resident Holy guys.”
I can't think of two people more suited to being 'Holy Guys' in a weird denial universe than Darius from Highlander and Zhaan from Farscape. They have both been in dark and terrible places in their psyche and physically, and yet they still shine. Light in the Darkness is what you need when you've just been dead, especially when the light understands the darkness.
Gentle fingers moved to where Tosh still had a hand pressed to her bloody shirt, brushed the skin on the back of her hand and moved away. “Gunshot?” She asked. Tosh nodded in reply. “That’s what got me, too. Seems like we have something in common.” A dim clatter reached them through the open door, the woman turned to face the door, listening, before turning back to Tosh and smiling. Tosh couldn’t help but smile back. “The cavalry is on its way, along with half the extra horses by the sounds of it. Let’s get you up off that floor.” There was a bit of a scramble, mostly due to Tosh’s too stiff joints, but eventually she found herself ensconced in a chair.
I really wanted to establish a rapport between these two, even though there hasn't been the great reveal on who the unknown is yet - a couple of hints but no more. Tosh would respond well to empathy and practicality, especially when a quick dose of humour is added so that's what I tried to do with this bit.
“Thank you... you never told me your name...”
The big reveal!
“Tara Maclay. You?”
I hadn't originally any idea who it would be that found Tosh, but I wanted it to be a woman. After posting the first part one of my forum friends (the one who does so many of my lovely icons and banners) asked if there would be a place for Tara. I said yes, and I had my rescuer for Tosh. Now I was only vaguely familiar with Tara as I'd not watched much of the later Buffy episodes, but when I found out she'd been shot I decided she was ideal.
“Toshiko Sato.” Tosh felt she should say something else but she found herself distracted by the blue eyes that met her own, full of questions, full of life. The silence stretched between them, only to be broken by a resounding crash from the next room, and the sound of a voice cursing creatively.
I wanted some sort of tension between them, just to contrast with what happened next
Tosh looked over her shoulder to the door, and Tara snorted elegantly as a slightly dishevelled figure stumbled into the room. He caught himself on the door frame, straightening as his eyes lit on the two occupants of the room.
“Ladies, please forgive my precipitous entrance, but it appears that someone neglected to switch on the lights out there.” Tosh wanted to giggle, she could almost see him wanting to sweep a non-existent hat off his head and bow to them. Tara did giggle.
“Fitz, you are incorrigible.”
“But you love me anyway, don’t you, Tara my sweet?”
I hadn't planned on Fitz being in this part, but he bounded in like an over enthusiastic puppy and *demanded* to be right here, right now. He lightens the mood without cheapening what's gone before, just by his very presence. We know Fitz has *history* but he's still charming and irrepressible and wonderful. Sound familiar?
“How could I not?” Tara smiled fondly at him and Tosh found herself thinking that this was a man who could possibly out-flirt and out-charm Jack Harkness, or at least give him a good run for his money. She couldn’t help but smile, though it felt a little wistful as she remembered the last time she had seen Jack.
Tosh ain't stupid, she sees it too; though it can't help but be tinged with sadness as I think she realises at this point she's probably never going to see Jack again.
“And are you going to introduce me to your beautiful companion?”
“Fitz!”
“Please?” Tosh could hear the hint of exasperation in Tara’s sigh, she’d heard the same sort of sound from herself too many times to count.
More Fitzcairn/Harkness comparison. Kind of.
“Toshiko Sato, meet Hugh Fitzcairn; one of the Banes of my life.”
“You wound me!”
“Get over it.”
These 2 know each other well enough to have that friendly sniping banter that doesn't actually have any negative undertones.
Tara took a step back as the man approached Tosh’s chair. She found herself watching him as he drew nearer, and was vaguely puzzled by the fact that she seemed unable to pin an exact age on him; another thing he shared with Jack.
OK, I came right out and did a direct contrast. So sue me, I coudn't resist it! I can't help but think that Jack and Fitz were cut from very similar cloth.
When he took her hand she jumped a little, not expecting the contact, and she almost yelped when he leaned over and kissed it, though she didn’t try to remove it from his gentle clasp. She could hear Tara muttering in the background about leopards and old dogs but it didn’t make a lot of sense, and most of her attention was on him.
Tara *knows* how much of a flirt Fitz is, but she isn't going to interfere at this point. She'll mither about it though just for the sheer hell of it, and also to let Fitz know she's keeping an eye on him. Tara realises just how vulnerable Tosh is.
“Toshiko Sato; a name as beautiful and exotic as you are, dear lady. Hugh Fitzcairn at your service; I am honoured to meet you.” He relinquished her hand, only to bow and murmur a few words in formal Japanese.
He's Fitz, of course he's learned some Japanese. He probably has chat up lines in about 30 different languages. I've never written Fitz before, but I wanted to catch his extravagance and chivalry, and generally just how nice he is. I think I managed to do it quite well in that little exchange.
Tosh stuttered a surprised reply, staring as he moved away to have a quiet conversation with Tara. Tosh closed her eyes for a moment, trying to find the logic, the pattern in what had to be one of the craziest days of her life.
Tosh the scientist again, trying to relate the unexplainable to something more familiar. Maths and science is all about trying to find patterns.
She wondered if Fitz had died too and that thought jogged her memory painfully.
“Tara, you said I wasn’t dead anymore. That you’d died too. Is there... has there been anyone else who has ‘come through’ today?”
“Anyone in particular?” Tara asked carefully, placing a gentle hand on Tosh’s shoulder. Fitz crouched in front of her, his eyes clouded with what appeared to be concern.
There's only one person who would enter Tosh's mind in this situation.
“Owen. Owen Harper.” Fitz stood up, a hint of a smile on his face. He touched his ear in a gesture that Tosh found so familiar.
Fitz knows. Who do you think was with Richie?
“Richie? I think you’d best head on over to the admin building. Why? Isn’t ‘because I said so’ a good enough reason anymore? Just take it from me, dear boy, that it would be very much worth your while. Oh and bring your new friend...”
What I wanted to imply here was that Fitz and Richie work very closely together, partners if you like, but that Fitz has begun to take a step back and let Richie make the decisions. Having said that, Fitz will still throw his weight around if he has to!
Fitz turned round with a grin. “Company is on its way. Shall we head somewhere a little more comfortable? I’m sure you could do with a drink Ms Sato.”
Chivalrous Fitz, again. Plus he'll be wanting to make sure that Tosh is as calm and refreshed as possible before she and Owen meet. He might not know them, but he sure as hell knows what kind of reactions to expect; he's been here a while after all.
“A drink would be lovely, thank you.” Tosh found herself confronted by two outstretched hands; one belonging to Tara, the other to Fitz. She glanced from one to the other for a moment, and then reached out to take both. Gently, she was led out of the room to meet the ‘company’ and hopefully get some more answers.
I wanted Tosh to realise that she has support in this new place, and from more than one direction. It's another open ended conclusion as I really want to write more in this verse at some point, goodness knows when I'll manage that though.
ETA - sorry, forgot to put it behind a cut. Sorted now.
Author: Aeron Lanart
Genre: Crossover - Torchwood, Highlander and goodness knows what else.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Torchwood S1 and S2, particularly Exit Wounds. Don't read this if you haven't seen Torchwood ep 13!
Warnings: It's leaning toward the crack side
Summary: There's a place on the banks of the River Denial where everyone is welcome.
Disclaimer: Not mine. If any of the universes involved belonged to me, there wouldn't be a need for Denial fic!
Part 2: Tosh's story
There was always going to be Tosh's story, I just hadn't decided at the time I wrote the first part how I was going to approach it.
~*~
Tosh remembered a comforting arm around her. There was nothing and no-one there now; no Jack, no Gwen, no Ianto, no pain.
Tosh had always struck me as a very lonely person, the team were all the family she had. I felt her first reactions would be about the *lack* of things (unlike Owen, who'd gained).
No pain. Her fingers trembled as she carefully felt for the gaping hole in her belly that her life had poured out from. It had disappeared. She opened her eyes, fumbling around her for something, anything to tell her where she was, but she recognised nothing. The room was in semi-darkness, the air still, the sound of her scrabbling against the unyielding floor muted as if the room were soundproofed,
I wanted to rack up the suspense a bit here, to give an idea of the panic Tosh must have been feeling. Again it contrasts with part one - no welcoming party for Tosh. But then...
although she was aware of the reassuring hum that she associated with computers; the sound of cooling fans and electricity, things she understood.
Even in an unknown room in semi darkness she takes comfort in technology.
Somewhere she heard a dull thud, then light bloomed, and she closed her eyes against it. Then there was an arm around her, but not one that she recognised.
“You’re safe now, I’ve got you.” The woman’s voice was soft, unthreatening.
Now she gets her welcoming party; it was just a bit late. I felt it was important to echo the first line, the comfort in being held. And who is this woman with the soft voice?
“How... where...?” Tosh found to her disgust that her voice didn’t seem to be working properly, and then there were soft fingers against her throat and a feeling of warmth spreading out from the point of contact on her skin.
Was that spread of warmth just from the human contact, or was it something else? I implied like hell, but wanted to leave that decision of just what it was up to the readers rather than shoving something in their faces.
“That should be a little better, now. As for where you are, you’re in our computer core. No idea why you came through here.”
It's Tosh, of course she's in the computer core. It's probably the place she would feel safest and would find most comforting. Again, it's a contrast with Owen.
“Came through? Is this the afterlife? Am I dead?” Tosh was pleased to note that her voice was stronger, though she could feel the edges of hysteria pressing against her mind.
Even when she wants to freak out, she's ever the scientist; questioning, needing to know. I love Tosh.
“If it is it’s like no afterlife I’ve ever heard of, and it does take some getting used to. And as for whether you’re dead, the answer to that is not any more. If you want to discuss the metaphysical aspects of that, I’d suggest taking it up with Darius or Zhaan; they're our resident Holy guys.”
I can't think of two people more suited to being 'Holy Guys' in a weird denial universe than Darius from Highlander and Zhaan from Farscape. They have both been in dark and terrible places in their psyche and physically, and yet they still shine. Light in the Darkness is what you need when you've just been dead, especially when the light understands the darkness.
Gentle fingers moved to where Tosh still had a hand pressed to her bloody shirt, brushed the skin on the back of her hand and moved away. “Gunshot?” She asked. Tosh nodded in reply. “That’s what got me, too. Seems like we have something in common.” A dim clatter reached them through the open door, the woman turned to face the door, listening, before turning back to Tosh and smiling. Tosh couldn’t help but smile back. “The cavalry is on its way, along with half the extra horses by the sounds of it. Let’s get you up off that floor.” There was a bit of a scramble, mostly due to Tosh’s too stiff joints, but eventually she found herself ensconced in a chair.
I really wanted to establish a rapport between these two, even though there hasn't been the great reveal on who the unknown is yet - a couple of hints but no more. Tosh would respond well to empathy and practicality, especially when a quick dose of humour is added so that's what I tried to do with this bit.
“Thank you... you never told me your name...”
The big reveal!
“Tara Maclay. You?”
I hadn't originally any idea who it would be that found Tosh, but I wanted it to be a woman. After posting the first part one of my forum friends (the one who does so many of my lovely icons and banners) asked if there would be a place for Tara. I said yes, and I had my rescuer for Tosh. Now I was only vaguely familiar with Tara as I'd not watched much of the later Buffy episodes, but when I found out she'd been shot I decided she was ideal.
“Toshiko Sato.” Tosh felt she should say something else but she found herself distracted by the blue eyes that met her own, full of questions, full of life. The silence stretched between them, only to be broken by a resounding crash from the next room, and the sound of a voice cursing creatively.
I wanted some sort of tension between them, just to contrast with what happened next
Tosh looked over her shoulder to the door, and Tara snorted elegantly as a slightly dishevelled figure stumbled into the room. He caught himself on the door frame, straightening as his eyes lit on the two occupants of the room.
“Ladies, please forgive my precipitous entrance, but it appears that someone neglected to switch on the lights out there.” Tosh wanted to giggle, she could almost see him wanting to sweep a non-existent hat off his head and bow to them. Tara did giggle.
“Fitz, you are incorrigible.”
“But you love me anyway, don’t you, Tara my sweet?”
I hadn't planned on Fitz being in this part, but he bounded in like an over enthusiastic puppy and *demanded* to be right here, right now. He lightens the mood without cheapening what's gone before, just by his very presence. We know Fitz has *history* but he's still charming and irrepressible and wonderful. Sound familiar?
“How could I not?” Tara smiled fondly at him and Tosh found herself thinking that this was a man who could possibly out-flirt and out-charm Jack Harkness, or at least give him a good run for his money. She couldn’t help but smile, though it felt a little wistful as she remembered the last time she had seen Jack.
Tosh ain't stupid, she sees it too; though it can't help but be tinged with sadness as I think she realises at this point she's probably never going to see Jack again.
“And are you going to introduce me to your beautiful companion?”
“Fitz!”
“Please?” Tosh could hear the hint of exasperation in Tara’s sigh, she’d heard the same sort of sound from herself too many times to count.
More Fitzcairn/Harkness comparison. Kind of.
“Toshiko Sato, meet Hugh Fitzcairn; one of the Banes of my life.”
“You wound me!”
“Get over it.”
These 2 know each other well enough to have that friendly sniping banter that doesn't actually have any negative undertones.
Tara took a step back as the man approached Tosh’s chair. She found herself watching him as he drew nearer, and was vaguely puzzled by the fact that she seemed unable to pin an exact age on him; another thing he shared with Jack.
OK, I came right out and did a direct contrast. So sue me, I coudn't resist it! I can't help but think that Jack and Fitz were cut from very similar cloth.
When he took her hand she jumped a little, not expecting the contact, and she almost yelped when he leaned over and kissed it, though she didn’t try to remove it from his gentle clasp. She could hear Tara muttering in the background about leopards and old dogs but it didn’t make a lot of sense, and most of her attention was on him.
Tara *knows* how much of a flirt Fitz is, but she isn't going to interfere at this point. She'll mither about it though just for the sheer hell of it, and also to let Fitz know she's keeping an eye on him. Tara realises just how vulnerable Tosh is.
“Toshiko Sato; a name as beautiful and exotic as you are, dear lady. Hugh Fitzcairn at your service; I am honoured to meet you.” He relinquished her hand, only to bow and murmur a few words in formal Japanese.
He's Fitz, of course he's learned some Japanese. He probably has chat up lines in about 30 different languages. I've never written Fitz before, but I wanted to catch his extravagance and chivalry, and generally just how nice he is. I think I managed to do it quite well in that little exchange.
Tosh stuttered a surprised reply, staring as he moved away to have a quiet conversation with Tara. Tosh closed her eyes for a moment, trying to find the logic, the pattern in what had to be one of the craziest days of her life.
Tosh the scientist again, trying to relate the unexplainable to something more familiar. Maths and science is all about trying to find patterns.
She wondered if Fitz had died too and that thought jogged her memory painfully.
“Tara, you said I wasn’t dead anymore. That you’d died too. Is there... has there been anyone else who has ‘come through’ today?”
“Anyone in particular?” Tara asked carefully, placing a gentle hand on Tosh’s shoulder. Fitz crouched in front of her, his eyes clouded with what appeared to be concern.
There's only one person who would enter Tosh's mind in this situation.
“Owen. Owen Harper.” Fitz stood up, a hint of a smile on his face. He touched his ear in a gesture that Tosh found so familiar.
Fitz knows. Who do you think was with Richie?
“Richie? I think you’d best head on over to the admin building. Why? Isn’t ‘because I said so’ a good enough reason anymore? Just take it from me, dear boy, that it would be very much worth your while. Oh and bring your new friend...”
What I wanted to imply here was that Fitz and Richie work very closely together, partners if you like, but that Fitz has begun to take a step back and let Richie make the decisions. Having said that, Fitz will still throw his weight around if he has to!
Fitz turned round with a grin. “Company is on its way. Shall we head somewhere a little more comfortable? I’m sure you could do with a drink Ms Sato.”
Chivalrous Fitz, again. Plus he'll be wanting to make sure that Tosh is as calm and refreshed as possible before she and Owen meet. He might not know them, but he sure as hell knows what kind of reactions to expect; he's been here a while after all.
“A drink would be lovely, thank you.” Tosh found herself confronted by two outstretched hands; one belonging to Tara, the other to Fitz. She glanced from one to the other for a moment, and then reached out to take both. Gently, she was led out of the room to meet the ‘company’ and hopefully get some more answers.
I wanted Tosh to realise that she has support in this new place, and from more than one direction. It's another open ended conclusion as I really want to write more in this verse at some point, goodness knows when I'll manage that though.
ETA - sorry, forgot to put it behind a cut. Sorted now.