Fic: Credit Where It's Due
Title: Credit Where It's Due
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Nosy.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1134
Summary: UNIT are trying to take credit for something they didn’t do. Torchwood plans to set the record straight.
Spoilers: Post Children of Earth fic set in the Nosy-Verse.
Written For: Challenge 457: Credit at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters.
Ianto stalked into Jack’s office and slammed several newspapers down on his husband’s desk. He looked furious. “Have you seen today’s headlines?”
“Uh, no, not yet. Why?” Jack pulled the top newspaper towards him, turning it around, scanning the big black letters splashed across the front page. The lead article was, unsurprisingly, all about the aliens who had come to earth to demand ten percent of the world’s children, threatening dire retribution if their demands weren’t met. For several days, every child on the planet had paused at regular intervals to chant in unison, freaking out parents everywhere, while ruling governments had begun preparing to give the 456 everything they wanted. “What the Hell?”
“That’s what I said!” The intensity of Ianto’s glare was almost enough to make everything on Jack’s desk spontaneously combust, possibly taking Jack with it. “I can’t believe UNIT are trying to take credit for dealing with the threat!”
“Neither can I!” Jack snarled. “Especially when most of their senior officers kept themselves busy helping the government decide which children should be sacrificed, and arranging for them to be rounded up and delivered to the 456!”
“I hate to admit it, but you were right.” Ianto sank onto the corner of Jack’s desk. “We should have come forward right away and told the world the truth about Torchwood, and how the government tried to keep us from doing our job, sending a kill squad after us to prevent their dirty secrets getting out. It’s a good thing we didn’t fall for any of their tricks to smoke us out of our base, into the open, where they could get to us. If you hadn’t ordered all of us to bring our families to the Hub for safety, they might have been used as pawns to convince us to play along.”
“I wasn’t about to leave anyone we cared about out there where we couldn’t protect them. I never trusted the late Prime Minister. Self-serving bastard.” Rather than face the consequences of his actions, Green had taken the easy way out with an overdose of sleeping pills.
“No argument from me. I voted against him in the election, for all the good that did.”
Jack reached for the phone. “I’m calling Lizzie. I already briefed her on what went down, but I suspect some of the higher ups in the government are trying to put a different spin on events, so they don’t get booted out of their cushy ministerial positions.”
“About par for the course with the current government. What do you want me to do?”
“Prepare a statement with all the pertinent information, including who was actually responsible for the destruction of both the 456 ship and their ambassador in Thames House.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Ianto frowned, concerned; it was one thing making Torchwood’s involvement clear, but after almost losing their children to aliens, how would people feel about the fact that it had been another alien who’d saved the day, albeit a far nicer, friendlier one? Hopefully they’d accept that there were good aliens as well as the bad ones instead of tarring all aliens with the same brush. Then again, how could anyone not love a Fluff? He was almost certainly worrying over nothing.
“Wise? Who knows, but I think it’s necessary. Credit should go where it’s due, and I have no idea how we could have dealt with the threat without Nosy’s help. Even with Mainframe’s AI construct in play, it wouldn’t have been enough. The only other way of transmitting the constructive wave would have been to use a child as a conduit, and that amount of energy passing through a human brain, especially one so young, would have been fatal. Even so, that scientist, whatever his name was…”
“Decker,” Ianto supplied.
“Yes, him. He was all ready to do it himself, although where he planned on finding a child I don’t know.”
“Probably would’ve ordered the soldiers to snatch a couple of random kids off the street, just in case the first attempt failed. I’d love to get my hands in him.” Ianto wasn’t normally a vindictive man, but in this case, he’d gladly make an exception.
“I’ll see if Lizzie will authorise handing him over to us,” Jack said, already dialling Her Majesty’s private number as Ianto picked up notepad and pen, preparing to jot down notes for a press release.
By the time he and Jack were done, the whole of Great Britain, if not the entire world, would know the truth, not only about the aliens calling themselves the 456, but about Torchwood, UNIT’s involvement in the plot to hand over the children, and who was really responsible for saving them. Ianto could only hope that Nosy was ready to become an international celebrity. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if, once the news got out, practically every family on earth decided they wanted a Fluff of their own. Not that he would blame them; if it hadn’t been for the friendly, not to mention almost indestructible, alien, the latest extraterrestrial incursion might not have ended so well.
All the power of the constructive wave, passed first through Mainframe’s hastily created AI, which had completely burned out, and then through Nosy, a wave so intense it would have liquefied a human brain… Amazingly, the only effects Nosy had suffered were some minor singeing of the fluff on its tail end, where the electrical current was discharged to earth, and a slightly hoarse voice for a few days from loud and prolonged humming on the exact 456 frequency. A plate of cookies and a few cups of strong coffee after its job was done, to restore its energy, and some honey to soothe its throat, and Nosy had been fine.
Ianto turned to watch as the Fluff slithered into Jack’s office, having sensed Ianto thinking about it.
“Hum?”
“Everything’s fine, Nosy. Or it will be. Looks like we might be going to London soon to straighten out a few misconceptions though. How d’you feel about a road trip?”
“HUMMMM!” Nosy replied, full of enthusiasm. It loved travelling in the SUV, staring out the tinted windows, watching the world go by.
Ianto smiled. Jack was right: credit should go where it was due. Nosy had saved the children, after all, and it deserved to be thanked for that. Perhaps Her Majesty would create a new medal in its honour, the Grand Order of the Fluff, something like that. Thinking about it, this might well be the ideal time for the people of earth to learn that there were aliens already living on earth, and that not all alien races were a threat to the planet. Who better to get that point across than the friendliest, fluffiest, most lovable alien of all?
The End
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Nosy.
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 1134
Summary: UNIT are trying to take credit for something they didn’t do. Torchwood plans to set the record straight.
Spoilers: Post Children of Earth fic set in the Nosy-Verse.
Written For: Challenge 457: Credit at fan_flashworks.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood or any of the characters.
Ianto stalked into Jack’s office and slammed several newspapers down on his husband’s desk. He looked furious. “Have you seen today’s headlines?”
“Uh, no, not yet. Why?” Jack pulled the top newspaper towards him, turning it around, scanning the big black letters splashed across the front page. The lead article was, unsurprisingly, all about the aliens who had come to earth to demand ten percent of the world’s children, threatening dire retribution if their demands weren’t met. For several days, every child on the planet had paused at regular intervals to chant in unison, freaking out parents everywhere, while ruling governments had begun preparing to give the 456 everything they wanted. “What the Hell?”
“That’s what I said!” The intensity of Ianto’s glare was almost enough to make everything on Jack’s desk spontaneously combust, possibly taking Jack with it. “I can’t believe UNIT are trying to take credit for dealing with the threat!”
“Neither can I!” Jack snarled. “Especially when most of their senior officers kept themselves busy helping the government decide which children should be sacrificed, and arranging for them to be rounded up and delivered to the 456!”
“I hate to admit it, but you were right.” Ianto sank onto the corner of Jack’s desk. “We should have come forward right away and told the world the truth about Torchwood, and how the government tried to keep us from doing our job, sending a kill squad after us to prevent their dirty secrets getting out. It’s a good thing we didn’t fall for any of their tricks to smoke us out of our base, into the open, where they could get to us. If you hadn’t ordered all of us to bring our families to the Hub for safety, they might have been used as pawns to convince us to play along.”
“I wasn’t about to leave anyone we cared about out there where we couldn’t protect them. I never trusted the late Prime Minister. Self-serving bastard.” Rather than face the consequences of his actions, Green had taken the easy way out with an overdose of sleeping pills.
“No argument from me. I voted against him in the election, for all the good that did.”
Jack reached for the phone. “I’m calling Lizzie. I already briefed her on what went down, but I suspect some of the higher ups in the government are trying to put a different spin on events, so they don’t get booted out of their cushy ministerial positions.”
“About par for the course with the current government. What do you want me to do?”
“Prepare a statement with all the pertinent information, including who was actually responsible for the destruction of both the 456 ship and their ambassador in Thames House.”
“Are you sure that’s wise?” Ianto frowned, concerned; it was one thing making Torchwood’s involvement clear, but after almost losing their children to aliens, how would people feel about the fact that it had been another alien who’d saved the day, albeit a far nicer, friendlier one? Hopefully they’d accept that there were good aliens as well as the bad ones instead of tarring all aliens with the same brush. Then again, how could anyone not love a Fluff? He was almost certainly worrying over nothing.
“Wise? Who knows, but I think it’s necessary. Credit should go where it’s due, and I have no idea how we could have dealt with the threat without Nosy’s help. Even with Mainframe’s AI construct in play, it wouldn’t have been enough. The only other way of transmitting the constructive wave would have been to use a child as a conduit, and that amount of energy passing through a human brain, especially one so young, would have been fatal. Even so, that scientist, whatever his name was…”
“Decker,” Ianto supplied.
“Yes, him. He was all ready to do it himself, although where he planned on finding a child I don’t know.”
“Probably would’ve ordered the soldiers to snatch a couple of random kids off the street, just in case the first attempt failed. I’d love to get my hands in him.” Ianto wasn’t normally a vindictive man, but in this case, he’d gladly make an exception.
“I’ll see if Lizzie will authorise handing him over to us,” Jack said, already dialling Her Majesty’s private number as Ianto picked up notepad and pen, preparing to jot down notes for a press release.
By the time he and Jack were done, the whole of Great Britain, if not the entire world, would know the truth, not only about the aliens calling themselves the 456, but about Torchwood, UNIT’s involvement in the plot to hand over the children, and who was really responsible for saving them. Ianto could only hope that Nosy was ready to become an international celebrity. It wouldn’t surprise him at all if, once the news got out, practically every family on earth decided they wanted a Fluff of their own. Not that he would blame them; if it hadn’t been for the friendly, not to mention almost indestructible, alien, the latest extraterrestrial incursion might not have ended so well.
All the power of the constructive wave, passed first through Mainframe’s hastily created AI, which had completely burned out, and then through Nosy, a wave so intense it would have liquefied a human brain… Amazingly, the only effects Nosy had suffered were some minor singeing of the fluff on its tail end, where the electrical current was discharged to earth, and a slightly hoarse voice for a few days from loud and prolonged humming on the exact 456 frequency. A plate of cookies and a few cups of strong coffee after its job was done, to restore its energy, and some honey to soothe its throat, and Nosy had been fine.
Ianto turned to watch as the Fluff slithered into Jack’s office, having sensed Ianto thinking about it.
“Hum?”
“Everything’s fine, Nosy. Or it will be. Looks like we might be going to London soon to straighten out a few misconceptions though. How d’you feel about a road trip?”
“HUMMMM!” Nosy replied, full of enthusiasm. It loved travelling in the SUV, staring out the tinted windows, watching the world go by.
Ianto smiled. Jack was right: credit should go where it was due. Nosy had saved the children, after all, and it deserved to be thanked for that. Perhaps Her Majesty would create a new medal in its honour, the Grand Order of the Fluff, something like that. Thinking about it, this might well be the ideal time for the people of earth to learn that there were aliens already living on earth, and that not all alien races were a threat to the planet. Who better to get that point across than the friendliest, fluffiest, most lovable alien of all?
The End