Ficlet: Pursuit
Title: Pursuit
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: While chasing an alien creature, Ianto begins to wonder whether he was wise letting Jack be in charge of the tranquilliser gun.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 158: Dart at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
“Which way did it go?” Jack said, darting out of the side street in Ianto’s wake. “Did you see?”
Ianto had been in the lead because Jack had been forced to stop for a moment while he reloaded the tranquilliser gun. His first shot had missed the alien beastie they were chasing, the dart bouncing harmlessly off a garden wall. He’d retrieved it, only to find the point of the needle now blunted and bent at an angle while the tranquilliser itself was making a sticky trail down the brickwork. There’d been little he could do about that, so he’d slapped a fresh dart into the gun and chased after Ianto and their quarry, going flat out to catch up.
“It went left, I’m sure of that, but I lost sight of it when it went behind those parked cars.” Ianto pointed at a row of cars on the opposite side of the road. “It hasn’t reappeared so it’s either still there or it’s gone into one of the gardens.”
“Damn it! I was hoping we could avoid a garden chase.” People tended to take a dim view of Torchwood agents trampling across their flowerbeds and climbing their fences. They considered it trespassing, and although D.I. Swanson was usually able to smooth the homeowners’ ruffled feathers, Jack knew he didn’t win any points with her by adding to her workload.
“Just watch where you plant your big boots and we should be able to minimise damage.”
Jack’s main problem, in Ianto’s opinion, was that when he was in pursuit mode he simply trampled over everything in his path. Ianto himself tried to avoid stepping on anything that looked like it might be important, keeping wherever possible to paths and lawns.
“We have to catch that thing!”
“Yes, but we don’t want to be sued for damages if we can avoid it.”
“A few squashed plants is a small price to pay for being rid of dangerous vermin.”
“We don’t know that this beastie is dangerous, or vermin for that matter.”
“We don’t know that it isn’t either; better to err on the side of caution.”
“Better not to err at all,” Ianto muttered, following Jack as he crossed the street to approach the parked cars. They split up, Ianto going left while Jack went right, just in case the alien had stopped out of sight around the other side.
No such luck.
“Gardens it is then,” Ianto said, sounding resigned, stepping into the nearest driveway, which was the most likely route taken by the fleeing alien, and heading for the path that led around to the back of the house. “Just don’t shoot the homeowner’s pet cat. Or the homeowner.”
“I’m not a complete idiot!”
“I’m reserving judgement on that. You already shot a brick wall.”
“That wasn’t what I was aiming at!”
“Exactly.”
“Thanks for the vote of no confidence.” Jack stalked ahead. “Aha! Gotcha!”
Ianto winced at the sound of breaking glass.
“I should have mentioned greenhouses too.”
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: While chasing an alien creature, Ianto begins to wonder whether he was wise letting Jack be in charge of the tranquilliser gun.
Word Count: 500
Written For: Prompt 158: Dart at anythingdrabble.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
“Which way did it go?” Jack said, darting out of the side street in Ianto’s wake. “Did you see?”
Ianto had been in the lead because Jack had been forced to stop for a moment while he reloaded the tranquilliser gun. His first shot had missed the alien beastie they were chasing, the dart bouncing harmlessly off a garden wall. He’d retrieved it, only to find the point of the needle now blunted and bent at an angle while the tranquilliser itself was making a sticky trail down the brickwork. There’d been little he could do about that, so he’d slapped a fresh dart into the gun and chased after Ianto and their quarry, going flat out to catch up.
“It went left, I’m sure of that, but I lost sight of it when it went behind those parked cars.” Ianto pointed at a row of cars on the opposite side of the road. “It hasn’t reappeared so it’s either still there or it’s gone into one of the gardens.”
“Damn it! I was hoping we could avoid a garden chase.” People tended to take a dim view of Torchwood agents trampling across their flowerbeds and climbing their fences. They considered it trespassing, and although D.I. Swanson was usually able to smooth the homeowners’ ruffled feathers, Jack knew he didn’t win any points with her by adding to her workload.
“Just watch where you plant your big boots and we should be able to minimise damage.”
Jack’s main problem, in Ianto’s opinion, was that when he was in pursuit mode he simply trampled over everything in his path. Ianto himself tried to avoid stepping on anything that looked like it might be important, keeping wherever possible to paths and lawns.
“We have to catch that thing!”
“Yes, but we don’t want to be sued for damages if we can avoid it.”
“A few squashed plants is a small price to pay for being rid of dangerous vermin.”
“We don’t know that this beastie is dangerous, or vermin for that matter.”
“We don’t know that it isn’t either; better to err on the side of caution.”
“Better not to err at all,” Ianto muttered, following Jack as he crossed the street to approach the parked cars. They split up, Ianto going left while Jack went right, just in case the alien had stopped out of sight around the other side.
No such luck.
“Gardens it is then,” Ianto said, sounding resigned, stepping into the nearest driveway, which was the most likely route taken by the fleeing alien, and heading for the path that led around to the back of the house. “Just don’t shoot the homeowner’s pet cat. Or the homeowner.”
“I’m not a complete idiot!”
“I’m reserving judgement on that. You already shot a brick wall.”
“That wasn’t what I was aiming at!”
“Exactly.”
“Thanks for the vote of no confidence.” Jack stalked ahead. “Aha! Gotcha!”
Ianto winced at the sound of breaking glass.
“I should have mentioned greenhouses too.”
The End