[JMM] Samuel Johnson quote
[Set in whatyou_wanted. Eliot is verydistinctive and used with permission from his mun who made a request for a Eliot/Bela kiss.]
“The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”
As far as paying off debts go, Torchwood 7 wasn’t so bad.
Problem with being from the fifty-first century was if you wanted to work with the time travel tech, you had to work for the Time Agency, and all things considered, Bela had never really been agency material. Well, at least in the she had to report to someone sense. Thief, con-artist, that she had down to a science. So much so, that she could con her way in, steal the tech she needed, and be on her way back in time when the tech wasn’t so well known. She auctioned them off to the highest bidder, several times over, all made easier with those natural fifty-first century pheromones, and she could always weasel out a little bit extra for what she had earned so clearly.
When the Agency caught her somewhere around the thirty-fifth century, it was fair to say that they weren’t too pleased. After a rather enjoyable game of cat and mouse with one of their best agents, Bela was fairly certain that they were going to just toss her into a void like they did everyone who betrayed them, but Bela had the advantage of being a private citizen. So instead of getting tossed into the void and seeing if it would kill her, she got shoved in the nicest little hell hole they could find. She’d be bitter about it, but Dean Winchester was one of the better agents they had. If she had to be caught by someone, at least it wasn’t someone incompetent because she had made a mistake.
The day they came to her and told her that the Agency wanted to give her a job, however, she almost asked them to repeat it. They wanted her to come work for them. Then they managed to get more specific, and that Sam Winchester-and yes, he was one of those Winchesters-wanted her to help him on his latest assignment, and she had to admit, she was far too curious as to what had brought her name into the mix to turn him down.
Landing in 2009, however-slightly less than ideal, but she could make it work. Especially when she had a boss who was particularly giving to her alternate way of life.
She had just gotten in from the time period that Sam had jumped them too-he had dropped her off in 4401 on his way back to check in with the powers that be, and she managed to do a little business before he picked her up again, leaving her standing in the entryway of the hub while he went off to do whatever it was he did. Time travel always left her a little too buzzed to sleep right away, so she just wandered through the room, looking for something to do in order to wind her down.
She made her way through the rooms until she landed in the kitchen, spotting Eliot chopping through some kind of vegetable local to the time period. She moved closer, sliding up on one of the stools next to him, before reaching for one of the chopped slices, and pulling back her hand with a pout when he smacked it away.
“Keep forcing your hand in there and you’re gonna lose it, sweetheart,” he growled at her, and she just watched him carefully for a moment, waiting until he moved away before moving her hand forward again and coming back with a few carrot slices that he probably wouldn’t miss. She was tossing them into her mouth when he turned back around again, and the glare wasn’t missed by her.
“Sorry, love,” she said with a teasing grin. “Sticky fingers.”
He rolled his eyes slightly, before going back to his work. He was quiet, probably in an attempt to make her leave, but when she didn’t, just continued sitting there, watching him as she worked, he sighed heavily, and decided to actually make conversation. “I read your file.”
She blinked slightly at that, crossing her legs in front of her on the stool as she considered it. “I have a file?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Everyone has a damn file. It’s just a matter of how much clearance you have.” She took that little amendment to mean that he had tried to hack Sam’s and gotten nowhere. When Bela didn’t respond right away, he took that as a sign to continue. “Says you’re a con-artist and a thief.”
“Honey, this is the Time Agency,” she said with an unamused eye roll. “Everyone is a con-artist and a bloody thief.”
Eliot regarded her carefully at that, before chopping into one of the other vegetables with a little more zest. He was getting annoyed. She actually found that somewhat adorable. “Yeah, well, you’re not an agent. You were a prisoner.”
“Mmmm,” she sighed, reaching over and stealing some of the vegetables. “Yes. They don’t take it so well when someone steals from them. They caught me, stuck me in some black hole for the rest of my life-or at least until Sam Winchester decided to pull me out.”
He raised an eyebrow slightly at that. “So he has that much weight then? He just said ‘I want Bela Talbot’ and they go and dig you out?”
“Apparently so.”
“So he trusts you then?”
She laughed. “Hardly. He’s just using me to piss them off.”
“If he doesn’t trust you, why did he bring you here? So that he has someone to shoot him in the back?”
She shrugged. “Haven’t a clue.” She pushed off her stool at that, before making her way over and dropping a friendly kiss on his cheek. “Guess you’ll have to ask him that, won’t you?”
960 words
“The chains of habit are generally too small to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.”
As far as paying off debts go, Torchwood 7 wasn’t so bad.
Problem with being from the fifty-first century was if you wanted to work with the time travel tech, you had to work for the Time Agency, and all things considered, Bela had never really been agency material. Well, at least in the she had to report to someone sense. Thief, con-artist, that she had down to a science. So much so, that she could con her way in, steal the tech she needed, and be on her way back in time when the tech wasn’t so well known. She auctioned them off to the highest bidder, several times over, all made easier with those natural fifty-first century pheromones, and she could always weasel out a little bit extra for what she had earned so clearly.
When the Agency caught her somewhere around the thirty-fifth century, it was fair to say that they weren’t too pleased. After a rather enjoyable game of cat and mouse with one of their best agents, Bela was fairly certain that they were going to just toss her into a void like they did everyone who betrayed them, but Bela had the advantage of being a private citizen. So instead of getting tossed into the void and seeing if it would kill her, she got shoved in the nicest little hell hole they could find. She’d be bitter about it, but Dean Winchester was one of the better agents they had. If she had to be caught by someone, at least it wasn’t someone incompetent because she had made a mistake.
The day they came to her and told her that the Agency wanted to give her a job, however, she almost asked them to repeat it. They wanted her to come work for them. Then they managed to get more specific, and that Sam Winchester-and yes, he was one of those Winchesters-wanted her to help him on his latest assignment, and she had to admit, she was far too curious as to what had brought her name into the mix to turn him down.
Landing in 2009, however-slightly less than ideal, but she could make it work. Especially when she had a boss who was particularly giving to her alternate way of life.
She had just gotten in from the time period that Sam had jumped them too-he had dropped her off in 4401 on his way back to check in with the powers that be, and she managed to do a little business before he picked her up again, leaving her standing in the entryway of the hub while he went off to do whatever it was he did. Time travel always left her a little too buzzed to sleep right away, so she just wandered through the room, looking for something to do in order to wind her down.
She made her way through the rooms until she landed in the kitchen, spotting Eliot chopping through some kind of vegetable local to the time period. She moved closer, sliding up on one of the stools next to him, before reaching for one of the chopped slices, and pulling back her hand with a pout when he smacked it away.
“Keep forcing your hand in there and you’re gonna lose it, sweetheart,” he growled at her, and she just watched him carefully for a moment, waiting until he moved away before moving her hand forward again and coming back with a few carrot slices that he probably wouldn’t miss. She was tossing them into her mouth when he turned back around again, and the glare wasn’t missed by her.
“Sorry, love,” she said with a teasing grin. “Sticky fingers.”
He rolled his eyes slightly, before going back to his work. He was quiet, probably in an attempt to make her leave, but when she didn’t, just continued sitting there, watching him as she worked, he sighed heavily, and decided to actually make conversation. “I read your file.”
She blinked slightly at that, crossing her legs in front of her on the stool as she considered it. “I have a file?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Everyone has a damn file. It’s just a matter of how much clearance you have.” She took that little amendment to mean that he had tried to hack Sam’s and gotten nowhere. When Bela didn’t respond right away, he took that as a sign to continue. “Says you’re a con-artist and a thief.”
“Honey, this is the Time Agency,” she said with an unamused eye roll. “Everyone is a con-artist and a bloody thief.”
Eliot regarded her carefully at that, before chopping into one of the other vegetables with a little more zest. He was getting annoyed. She actually found that somewhat adorable. “Yeah, well, you’re not an agent. You were a prisoner.”
“Mmmm,” she sighed, reaching over and stealing some of the vegetables. “Yes. They don’t take it so well when someone steals from them. They caught me, stuck me in some black hole for the rest of my life-or at least until Sam Winchester decided to pull me out.”
He raised an eyebrow slightly at that. “So he has that much weight then? He just said ‘I want Bela Talbot’ and they go and dig you out?”
“Apparently so.”
“So he trusts you then?”
She laughed. “Hardly. He’s just using me to piss them off.”
“If he doesn’t trust you, why did he bring you here? So that he has someone to shoot him in the back?”
She shrugged. “Haven’t a clue.” She pushed off her stool at that, before making her way over and dropping a friendly kiss on his cheek. “Guess you’ll have to ask him that, won’t you?”
960 words