Lightning Follows the Sound of Thunder
Title: Lightning Follows the Sound of Thunder
Rated: PG-13
Characters: Team Torchwood and Team Primeval
Summary: An anomaly opens in Bute Park and Torchwood responds, but so does the team from the Anomaly Research Centre.
Warnings: Consider this early Torchwood Series 2 and pre Series 3 of Primeval.
Disclaimers: I should own Torchwood and its characters. I'd do a damn sight better job of caring for them than those pillocks.
Notes: For the antigwenallies Crossover Challenge.
Cardiff, Wales
The rift alarms blared throughout the underground base of Torchwood Three. Jack Harkness stormed out of his office, Ianto Jones close on his heels carrying his Captain's greatcoat over his arm. "Tosh? What is it?" He barked as he fastened his belt after sliding his Webley's holster on.
Toshiko Sato turned in her chair and and began typing quickly at an alternate keyboard. The odd deep mumbling of the Torchwood mainframe's alien core chattered away and suddenly went silent. "It's- well, I'm not sure what it is, Jack. It's almost like a rift portal has opened and is staying open?" Tosh turned to her main keyboard and kept typing, "There's no record of anything like this happening in all the years we've been monitoring the rift."
Jack titled his arms back allowing Ianto to quickly dress Jack in his greatcoat and with a quick shrug of his shoulders, the coat settled and the Captain was prepared. "Call Owen and Gwen, have them meet us at the location. Where is it, anyway?" Ianto was slipping his own overcoat on after checking his sidearm and dropping a PDA into his pocket.
Tosh had her jacket and bag in one hand while she quickly sent texts to the missing team members. "Bute Park, somewhere around the Gorsedd stones."
Ianto actually stopped for a moment at that, "That's a very public place." He looked at Jack, "We'll need the constabulary to cordon off the area."
Jack waved his arm as the cog door rolled back, "Get on it Ianto, give them whatever story you need to clear the area. Let's get moving!"
London, England
The people of the Anomaly Research Centre froze as the anomaly detector, only recently perfected by Connor Temple, made itself known with a thunderous klaxon. The eccentrically dressed young man was suddenly running towards the monitor along with the rest of the centre's main field team.
"What do you we have?" Nick Cutter asked, his attention fixed on the screen as the young man typed at a keyboard.
"Coming up now. Wow." Connor seemed impressed at the results.
Captain Becker appeared at their sides, "Cardiff? We're going to Cardiff?" He was rather nonplussed by the idea.
"That's where the anomaly is, that's where we go." Cutter said bluntly then turned to look up to where James Lester stood, leaning against a railing, "We still do that now, don't we?"
Lester gave a quiet snort then replied, "Of course, but don't be surprised if you have- ahem- competition when you get there."
Cutter and Becker looked between each other then back at Lester. "Competition?" Becker queried.
Lester stiffened slightly, "Torchwood."
Bute Park, Cardiff
"Thanks again Andy, we really do appreciate you and the boys clearing the area." Gwen Cooper smiled broadly at the long suffering Andy Davidson in his stab vest and high visibility overcoat. "It makes things so much easier for us to do the real work when you lot handle the little things." She patted him on the arm and completely missed the stiffening of his back at her last comment. "We'll let you know when you can leave. " With a final bland smile, she turned and headed into Bute Park tapping her comm, "Jack, I've taken care of securing the park. We can move in now."
Owen Harper rolled his eyes before activating his own comm, "I'm sure they appreciate all of your hard work Gwen, but Jack, Ianto and Tosh have already been here two hours." He paused and checked the portable rift monitor he was carrying, "They've already located the rift event and Tosh is monitoring it. Something came through so we're searching the park."
Gwen piped in, "Then I should head to where Tosh is, to help find whatever it is that came through." She quickly cut off her comm and began running towards the Gorsedd stones.
Owen just shook his head and pulled the CB radio from his pocket, "Ianto, Jack? Gwen's heading towards Tosh. She cut me off before I could tell her that whatever is going on damages our comms." He stopped speaking as the rift monitor began beeping loudly, "Jack? I think whatever it was is heading towards Gwen- fast!"
Jack stopped next to the trunk carving that was liberally splashed in blood and caught an unwelcome scent, "Damn. Ianto- where are you?"
"The animal wall. There's quite a bit of blood splattered around the top, near the bear." He paused for a moment, "Jack, I think we've got more than one of whatever they are."
Jack was already running towards the stones and Tosh so his words were clipped, "Everyone back to the stones. Weapons out and keep an eye out in every direction, I hope these aren't what I think they are."
Toshiko Sato had several scanners sitting around the stone circle, all collecting data on the strangely pulsating sphere floating directly about the central platform stone. She was certain that whatever this was, it wasn't related to the rift; as every visual record of rift activity looked more like golden light pouring like smoke while this was something different entirely. She was hard pressed to describe it as anything other than shards of glass pulsing rhythmically. The portal, as she'd come to call it, seemed to be stable and fixed in location which made collecting data easy. After Owen arrived and they discovered their subcutaneous communicators were inoperable after coming near the portal, the others set out with portable rift monitors for signs of anything coming through. In a fit of curiosity, Tosh had tossed a spare scanner at the orb after it had pulled metal items from her field kit.
The data was intriguing to say the least. She was tempted to say that the portal lead to another time period on Earth and apparently allowed travel without physical damage. The scanner's camera showed crumbling buildings overgrown with vegetation and what may have been the rusted out remains of cars. She'd been so focused on the data pouring into her computer station in the rear of the SUV, she hadn't noticed Gwen Cooper running towards the SUV or the crackling from the CB radio sitting next to her on the seat.
Gwen stopped running, the stitch her side made worse because she couldn't breath due to her too tight jeans and exceedingly high heels. She straightened up and saw the strange glowing ball in the stone circle and was mesmerized like a cat with a laser pointer. The pulses were lulling her, making her eyes feel heavy and she was so focused on it that she never saw or heard what slashed at her with sharp claws. Or dragged her, bleeding, away and towards the light.
One of the message windows beeped frantically as Tosh studied another screen of data. When she selected the window, she glimpsed something moving fast out the corner of her eye. By the time she'd turned her head, all she could see was a momentary flash at the portal before it returned to it's regular pulsing. Returning her attention to the alert, she frowned at the results and quickly grabbed for the handheld radio. "Jack? Jack, something just went into the portal and," she took a deep breath, "I think it took Gwen with it."
Jack came to a halt, his heart pounding from the exertion and Tosh's words and he closed his eyes. In the trees above, something moved quietly followed by a nearly inaudible chirp as it saw the area below like an echo save for the quickly beating heart of prey. Jack's eyes flew open and he looked above and around, his Webley held high ready to fire. The faint chirp came again and he turned quickly in that direction and fired, then heard rustling branches and silence. He quickly activated the radio, "Everyone to the SUV, keep your weapons out and ready. Tosh, lock the doors and don't open them unless it's one of us. I know what we're up against and this is bad!" Jack began running as quickly as possible towards the SUV, but kept his gun out and his senses strained for the chirp- the echo location signal of Earth's most dangerous predator.
Owen was cursing under his breath as he caught sight of the SUV, backlit by the pulsing light. He still had his gun out, but he was gulping to get air from running the entire distance. He looked down for a moment and froze at what he saw before him. The Torchwood standard issue sidearm hadn't been fired, but the finger, with it's manicured nail was resting against the trigger. But nothing else remained of Gwen Cooper, save some blood.
"Connor, how much further?" Cutter's question floated from the passenger seat to the back of the silver truck where Connor was holding his portable scanner.
Connor checked the scanner again before answering, "Just up ahead, maybe a quarter of a mile?" The detector lacked detailed maps for the area because honestly, did anything ever happen in Wales? Looking through the windscreen, they all silently cursed at the police barricade that was obviously between them and the anomaly.
Cutter picked up the radio, "Jenny, looks like we've got a job for you." They came to a stop at the blockade and as a group poured from the two vehicles. Jenny Lewis looked at the milling constables and noticed one person, a young man in a well fitted suit, seemingly giving orders to a blond haired constable. Deciding he was obviously in charge, she headed in his direction as Captain Becker began outfitting the team with weapons and flack vests. Abby and Connor exchanged amused looks as they took the vests and quietly dropped them back into the storage locker they came from.
Jenny stopped in front of the constable and man in the suit and quickly started her rapid fire attempt to bully them out of the way, "Hello, this is now official government business. If you'd be so kind to keep the general public away from the quarantine zone and withdraw your officers my team will take care of things." She smiled blandly at the two men, then frowned as the constable began laughing to himself while looking between her and the suited man, who on closer inspection couldn't be much older than Connor. "Excuse me, but I see nothing amusing constable. As I said, this is now official government business."
The police constable continued sniggering under his breath and threw his arms in the air, "Don't mind me, us simple coppers will just keep the area cordoned for whichever of you lot wins." Then turned away and headed towards his colleagues.
"Now. As I said, this is government business, if you'd kindly move out of the way." Jenny began to push by the man in the suit, but was stunned when his hand closed over her arm and then she noticed the shoulder holster he was wearing. "Let go of me this instant! Who do you think you are?"
Ianto Jones released the woman's arm and stepped directly in front of her, "Torchwood."
Cutter saw the heated words between Jenny and some man in a suit and had began walking towards her, Becker following close behind with his rifle at the ready. They both began running when the man grabbed Jenny's arm and held her before pushing her back slightly. They'd just arrive as the man announced 'Torchwood.' "What's Torchwood?"
Ianto turned to the newcomers, "Torchwood is in charge of this sight and that's all you need to know. If you would all kindly return to your vehicles and depart, I won't be required to involve the constabulary in your removal." He paused a moment while Tosh informed him about Gwen's apparent death and then Jack's order to return to the SUV. The loss would be hard, especially on Ianto as it would fall to him to erase Gwen from the memories of most of Cardiff and Swansea. He was lost in his own mind for a moment and nearly missed as the rough looking blond man walked past him towards the portal. Ianto came back to reality and had his hand on the man's arm ready to pull him back when a rifle barrel was pushed into his back.
"I'd let go of Professor Cutter young man. This is ARC business now." Captain Becker's voice was steady and he was very confident of having the situation under control as were the other members of the ARC team, who all had rather smug grins on their faces.
That is, until Captain Becker began twitching and fell to the floor in an ungainly mess as the young man held a formidable looking stun gun against his midsection. The ARC team were stunned into silence at Becker's quick incapacitation and just about found their voice as the man pulled a heavily modified pistol from his jacket and had it trained on Cutter with no doubt to his accuracy. His Welsh tones were pleasant enough as he quietly said, "Now if you'd be so kind to return to the other side of the police line?" With little choice, Cutter moved back to his team, who watched with trepidation as the man disarmed the unconscious Becker then pressed a call button. "Jack? We have a bit of a situation here. It appears the people from the Anomaly Research Centre have arrived."
Jack swore to himself as Owen and Tosh looked between each other confused as they all watched the video play on the terminal again. The grey flash barely registered on the enhanced equipment, but the body it dragged with it through the portal was clearly seen. The leather jacket, the boots, the street urchin top. Jack reached over and clicked the video feed off. "Right, this is monumentally bad." He stopped as Ianto's voice came over the radio and reported. "Oh, it just gets better, doesn't it?" Jack sighed. "Ianto? We're coming to you. I need to see these people and then I need you to do something for me." He clicked off the radio and climbed into the driver's seat as Owen and Tosh pulled their doors closed. Jack's driving was a reckless as ever and they quickly arrived at the police cordon to find Ianto standing calmly while several unknown people with silver trucks mulled about. The team quickly climbed out of the SUV and the two groups came face-to-face.
Jack noted, with approval, that the apparent military presence was unconscious on the tarmac with his hands secured behind him. Tosh looked at Ianto for a moment then back at the unconscious man before asking, "What did he do?"
"Held his assault rifle to my back," Ianto replied in the same calm tone he used when answering what type of biscuits were available for tea.
Owen shook his head, "You really are too fond of that stun gun, mate." He knelt down and checked the man's condition. "He's fine. Probably wake with a banging headache, but he probably deserved it." Owen finally noticed the group that mulling about, "Blimey, and people say we're a motley bunch."
Abby Maitland didn't take kindly to the comment, "Oi! Watch it git or I'll be wiping that smirk off your face with my fist!" Connor cringed at Abbey's threat since he knew she'd probably try to carry it out.
Jack stepped forward, "Now, now kids. We can all play together without this can't we?" He looked directly at the shaggy haired blond, "So you're Professor Cutter?" Jack made no attempt to hide the fact that he was giving Cutter the once over, "I have to admit, old Jimmy didn't do bad. Such a pretty little team."
It was Jenny who actually blurted, "Jimmy? You mean James Lester? How do you know about our work?" Cutter was still silently chewing his lip as the tall man in the coat blatantly eye fucked him. "We're a top secret government project- you can't possibly have access."
The ARC team were all resoundingly shocked by the snickers and chuckles that Jenny's comment received. Cutter finally asked, "What's Torchwood?" The man in the long coat smiled.
"Let's just say we're a bit higher up on the food chain than you when it comes to the unusual." Jack answered calmly, "But for now, why don't you tell us what you know and we'll decide if you can offer any help?"
Cutter bristled at the condescending tone but answered, "We've been dealing with temporal anomalies for over two years. Our detector says there's one open here, right now."
Tosh looked at Jack, "It's temporal, not rift activity? I wonder why we've never registered one in the past?" She was already typing away at her computer in the back of the SUV before Jack could answer.
He spared a glance for her, "We probably have, just assumed they were rift spikes. It wasn't until your recent redesign of the rift activity programs that we would even note that the energy readings were different." He turned back to Cutter, "Ever dealt with something coming through from the future?"
It was Ianto that noted the reflexive stiffening of the ARC team's backs at Jack's question and he spoke softly, "I would say yes, from that response."
Jack looked at them carefully, "How about a creature about two and a half metres tall, solid grey and wicked fast? Oh, and kills so quickly you barely catch sight of it?" Connor was backing away towards the truck and Abby was looking to the trees for any sign of movement while Cutter and Jenny remained staring. "Have any luck?"
Cutter shook his head, "Brought a greenhouse down on one. Had help with the others."
Jack sighed, "Desmodus Invictus, nasty creatures that will one day become the most feared killers in the universe." Jack's words carried obvious experience, "We've lost one of our team to them tonight; but they always hunt in pairs so there's likely another still roaming." Jack turned to Ianto, "Release their body guard Ianto, I'm sure he'll be embarrassed enough to behave. Then I need you to retrieve some items from secured archives for me." Ianto knelt down and released the cuffs from Captain Becker then turned to Jack for additional instructions. "I need security boxes 8674 and 2264, take Tosh with you and get back as quickly as you can." Ianto gave a nod and headed towards the SUV where Tosh remained.
"Owen, you stay here with me and our new friends. We'll take their vehicles to the portal and continue monitoring. Maybe we'll get lucky." Jack turned back to Cutter, "If that's okay with you?"
Cutter and his team didn't really see that they had any choice. After rousing Becker and loading him into the second vehicle, the ARC team, along with the members of Torchwood entered Bute Park and headed to the Gorsedd stones.
A shapely woman in worn field gear watched from a nearby tree with interest; perhaps this trip wouldn't be a total waste.
Tosh watched with horror as Ianto opened the secured archive box and extracted the sonic modulator. The very device that had landed her in a UNIT prison and then at Torchwood was now sitting on the desk in front of her with Ianto looking on with concern. "Can you make sure it works?" She looked at him in horror, but then checked her response- he obviously didn't know the device's history.
"I can compare it to the schematics, check the power source; but Jack's the only one that can confirm if it works or not." She quickly had the plans spread out and the device sitting atop them. She avoided touching the device as much as possible, it was the smoking gun of her nightmares and she'd hoped never to see it again. It seemed to be untouched since she'd built it, and the power cell was still fully charged. She was staring at the device as Ianto returned with a second box and quickly removed a device that looked something like a remote control with a large glass panel at the top. He placed the item on the table and then found a set of instructions in the bottom of the security box.
"Apparently this will close the portal if we can access it's controls. The notes say mainframe understands the technology, but is hostile towards it." He handed her the notes, "Think you can patch it into one of the PDA's maybe?" He placed the sonic modulator and its documents back in the box while Tosh started working on the new project. Ianto walked to his workstation, trying not to linger too long near the station that was- had been- Gwen's. He didn't look forward to packing her life away, but that would wait until this was resolved. At his computer he opened the life form database and typed in the name Jack had mentioned, Desmodus Invictus, and waited a moment. The system brought up record after record marked with hazard level one warnings and then finally a picture. "Holy hell!" He dropped into his chair and looked at the nightmarish creature, it's curved talons and sharp fangs and the horrid face that screamed 'killer.' Ianto finally closed the image window and began reading the reports that detailed Torchwood's experience with these creatures and the terrifyingly high body count that surrounded them. He looked back to where Tosh was interconnecting the device to a field PDA and back at the reports, "Tosh? I think you really need to hurry that up."
"I don't trust these people, Sir." Captain Becker was still quietly fuming as the people from Torchwood directed the ARC team. "We should call this in. If these people supposedly have priority over us, then Mister Lester should be able to confirm it." Becker clenched his teeth slightly, but it made his head ache, a left over effect of the stun gun the man in the suit had used on him earlier.
Jack looked over at the obviously perturbed military man and smiled, "Oh trust me, Jimmy will be more than a bit embarrassed if you mention us; especially me." Jack positively leered, "But does he still wear those really sharp suits?"
Abby elbowed Connor hard as he snickered under his breath. But they both nearly lost it when the other man from Torchwood snorted and spoke out, "Bloody hell Jack, is there a single bloke in a suit that you don't ogle?"
Jack turned on his full grin, showing more teeth than the ARC team had seen from the future shark, and simply oozed satisfaction, "It's the ties."
Cutter ignored the chattering behind him and remained staring at the fractured shards of the time anomaly. Jenny approach quietly and stood next to him, "So, the creatures- they're what killed Stephen, aren't they?" Cutter didn't reply, so she went on. "Helen. Helen's involved again."
Cutter looked at her sharply, but said nothing. They turned back to the anomaly, watching the light pulse and the shards reflect images of the surroundings- and the future. A snapping branch had nearly every person in the two groups crouching and reaching for sidearms.
Ianto Jones and Toshiko Sato both stood with their hands raised as several handguns and one assault rifle were leveled at them. In his typically dry manner, Ianto looked amongst them and said, "Right. Now wouldn't be a good time to say 'boo?'" He shook the security box pointedly, "I believe this is the delivery you requested?"
Jack strode over to Ianto and had his hands wrapped around Ianto's neck, pulling him in for a triumphant kiss before pulling away with a grin. "Didn't bring any coffee too, did you?"
Owen snorted and turned away to where Tosh was setting up some sort device Owen had never seen. Connor was coveting the shiny technology that the Torchwood team had to hand. He nearly had a hand on it when Owen slapped it away with a shaking finger. Abby looked on and finally asked, "So what's that supposed to do?"
Tosh finished connecting the device and was pleased to see both the device and her controller light up, "It will send a pulse into the portal and seal it." She called out, "We're ready to go, Jack."
Jack had already taken the security box from Ianto and configured the sonic modulator while Ianto opened the back of the SUV and suddenly the entire ARC team were again crouching and reaching for weapons when a roar erupted from the vehicle.
"What the bloody hell is that!" Becker yelled as he had his rifle pointed directly at the creature being held on a chained collar by the man who'd calmly taken him down.
Ianto glared at the creature which turned back around and started slowly moving forward, "Weevil. Don't worry, she's still a bit sedated; but don't go waving anything you want to keep in front of her." Ianto very unsubtly let Janet charge forward slightly, making Becker jump back. "Sorry. Must have let the chain out a bit too much." He gave Becker one of his more innocent smiles as he directed Janet towards her destination.
Cutter had enough and finally asked, "What exactly are you lot doing?"
Jack wandered to where Ianto had staked Janet's chain to the earth. She crouched down and was scenting the air, letting the odd growl rumble in her throat. "You've heard of using a goat to bait a tiger trap? Well, we're using a weevil to bait an über bat. Those bats are pretty much blind and depend on ultra sensitive sonography to see their prey- they lock in on heartbeats." He held up the modulator, "This will generate enough white noise to make our heartbeats invisible to it, but Janet there has a much larger heart and a huge ribcage in which to resonate."
Jenny looked on in horror, "You're using that poor creature as bait?"
"Yes. But don't worry; Weevils are tougher than you might imagine. Once Janet there has our bat's attention, I'll crank up the modulator's settings and turn it's melon organ into a lump of cottage cheese." Jack held an arm out, "Now if you'd all get in your vehicles, we can get this over with."
As a group, the ARC team exchanged glances then climbed into their trucks while the Torchwood team climbed into their black SUV. The sonic modulator had been locked into a frame sitting in front of the SUV and everyone knew when it activated as the buzzing filled their ears. The weevil increased it's growling and began to let loose full on bellows as it pulled against the chain spiked into the soil. Less than a minute passed before a loud thud shook one of the ARC trucks and nails scraped over metal as the bat creature landed on top of the truck before fixing on the bait.
The bat was hardly off the truck and leaping towards the weevil when the sonic modulator's signal was ramped up and hit the bat like it had ran directly into a brick wall. The creature fell to the ground scrabbling and had the unfortunate luck of landing within reach of the weevil which quickly tore at it with powerful claws. The maimed bat fell through the portal and they all watched as Torchwood's device sent a pulse of energy into the anomaly and in a flash it was gone.
Abby looked at the other members of her team, "Is that it?"
Jack turned in his seat and asked Tosh, "Status?"
"No activity readings. It's sealed." She let out a sigh of relief and sat back in her seat. For a moment she was relieved, then she clamped a hand over her mouth, "Poor Gwen."
Ianto sat in his seat, looking down at his hands, "I tried to warn her. Make her understand what Torchwood really was, but..."
Owen couldn't help, "She probably told you to cheer up."
Ianto snorted, "Something like that."
While the ARC team remained stunned in their trucks and the Torchwood team spared a moment for their lost comrade, Helen Cutter took her chance and came running from her hiding place and grabbed the square device Torchwood had used to close the anomaly. Cutter noticed first and had his door thrown open yelling "Helen!" As people came flying from all of the vehicles to give pursuit.
Ianto was fastest and was nearly on her heels as she pointed the device in front of her and suddenly another portal opened which she ran into. Ianto barely heard Jack's cry of "Ianto, no!" Before he'd already entered the glittering portal between eras.
He couldn't help but stop for a moment to look around, seeing the waist high grasses and grazing prehistoric animals. He caught sight of the woman and gave chase, gun out and ready to fire.
The ARC team were lined up around the anomaly with guns directed at the remaining three members of Torchwood, who were not happy about being stopped. "We have to go after him, now step aside." Jack snarled.
Becker released the safety on his rifle, as if to make a point; but apparently the Torchwood team didn't believe he was serious, or they really didn't care. It was Jenny who finally spoke, "You can't go through, there might not even be a breathable atmosphere on the other side."
Jack actually snorted at them, "Please, like that matters to me. Now get out of the way." He pushed forward, but Cutter stepped into his path, "Move professor."
Cutter put a hand on Jack's chest, "I can't. That's my wife, your friend is probably already dead."
Ianto had dropped down into the grass as the woman open fired. His arm was throbbing, but he knew it was just a graze. He was more concerned for the dead monkey-like creature that had the misfortune of poking its head up during the first shot. He quickly checked for the woman and had his bearings when she spoke.
"I suggest you get back to the anomaly young man. This little device you people had is quite clever, and it says that opening will close in a minute. Now if you leave me and the device, I'll let you go." Helen's voice was collected and Ianto was quite sure she'd open fire if he even considered standing up. "Throw your weapon away and I promise you can go safely. Not much time left now."
Ianto paused a moment to gather his strength, and in one quick movement pushed up and fired two rapid shots. The first hit the woman square in the shoulder making her lose the gun- the exact same shot he'd used in the past to incapacitate Owen- while the second was meant to destroy the device but instead hit another of the strange monkey-like creatures. The woman was cursing loudly as he approached, but he heard the device beeping and looked back to see the portal begin to fade. With no time, Ianto darted towards the anomaly and ran through just as it blinked out of existence.
"I said, 'get out of my way!'" Jack growled at Captain Becker, who had his assault rifle pressed against Jack's chest. There was a flash as the anomaly flared and then was gone.
Ianto looked around as he clutched a hand over the wound on his shoulder, "Sorry. She got away."
"Ianto!" Jack pushed past someone dressed in military black to hug Ianto and placed a kiss on his lips, "I was afraid I'd lost you."
Owen was already at his side with a med kit checking Ianto's arm while Tosh smiled from where she leaned against the SUV checking the readouts for any other activity. Ianto looked at Jack and frowned, "I am sorry about Gwen."
Jack looked at him quizzically, then at Owen. "Gwen?"
Ianto frowned, "Gwen Cooper? Jack? She's been part of the team for nearly two years?"
Jack held Ianto closer, "Owen, I think you need to check him for trauma- he's remembering people that don't exist." Jack looked over his shoulder, "Liam, get Janet back in the SUV."
"Of course, Jack."
Ianto turned in Jack's arms to see the man he'd taken down earlier heading towards Janet, except instead of black fatigues he was in tight jeans and a well fitted short sleeved shirt. Ianto frowned a bit but felt Jack's chuckling vibrating through them both. Jack whispered in Ianto's ear, "Be nice to Liam, you know he still wants you." Ianto pushed away a bit from Jack and really looked at him for a moment in confusion.
"Jack, I think things have changed." Ianto's eyes grew wide, "Oh god! Those monkeys were killed!" Ianto pulled away and went to Cutter, "If we were in the far past, and say a couple of animals happened to get killed in the crossfire, could it change things now?"
Cutter looked forlornly at Jenny Lewis, then back to Ianto, "Yes."
Ianto spun back to Jack and was about to say something when he halted and watched Becker lead the weevil towards the SUV and a woman in black fatigues finally turned so he could see her. The hair was pulled back, but the the same overly large eyes and gap teeth stared back at him from safety glasses. "Gwen!" Ianto gasped as he ran forward.
Second Lieutenant Morag Hull frowned as the man who had earlier used a stun gun on her yelled and ran towards her. She had been watching the creature, the weevil, be moved by the Torchwood operative with concern as it was obviously deadly. She didn't understand this Welshman as he ran at her calling Gwen over and over, but she must have lost her concentration since she allowed her guard to drop just at the wrong moment.
The weevil thrashed out at the woman so quickly, no one could have stopped her. Both the ARC and Torchwood teams froze for a split second as Janet's claws sliced across the woman's throat in a flash. Everyone was moving as the woman fell to the ground, some towards her and others to help contain the weevil and load it into the SUV.
Owen's medical kit was spread across the ground, but there wasn't much he could do. She was dead before she hit the dirt. Ianto watched as the ARC team moved slowly to collect their fallen military aide while Tosh loaded the last of the equipment into the SUV. Owen had already climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV to forget everything that had happened. Ianto remained fixed to the spot in a daze and barely heard the conversation between Jack and Cutter.
"Sorry about your agent. That weevil rarely tries anything." Jack knew it was a lame excuse.
Cutter shook his head, "Didn't even know her name. We tend to go through military people quickly." He looked over Jack's shoulder at Ianto, "Be careful with that one. He just witnessed a reality shift and that's..." Cutter lost his train of thought as Jenny climbed into the truck.
Jack gave a weak smile, "Quantum realities. Really can do your head in." Jack patted Cutter's shoulder, "Thanks for your concern, but we'll take care of things here. Say hi to Jimmy for me." With that, Jack turned around, his greatcoat flaring and headed towards Ianto. Cutter watched as Jack placed an arm around the young man's waist and led him towards the black SUV and they both climbed in and drove away. Cutter looked around one last time before climbing into the truck, allowing Connor to drive them back to the ARC.
Ianto sat on the lumpy sofa in the Hub with his second double whiskey and looked at the subtle differences. The old conference room was again the conference room and the furniture in Jack's office was how it had been prior to the Abaddon fiasco. Jack sat next to him, a comfortable source of heat and had his fingers laced with Ianto's free hand. Owen wandered over and dropped heavily into a desk chair while Tosh continued to type away. Ianto blinked and looked at Jack, "Sorry? I was miles away."
Jack smiled, "It's okay. Reality shifts can do a person's head in." He became serious, "How much have you noticed that's different?"
Ianto frowned, "Well, other than Gwen, there's only the things that she herself forced that have changed. So, I guess it's not a lot." Ianto smiled back at Jack, "You really don't remember Gwen Cooper?"
Before Jack could speak Tosh turned around, "Just finished the search. There's no Gwen Elizabeth Cooper in any of the national databases. I checked on the parents and according to the records they only had one child, a son named Edward, and he's currently serving a life sentence at HMP Full Sutton." Tosh let her glasses fall onto her desk as she looked at Ianto, "You really don't remember Liam at all?"
Ianto looked over Tosh's shoulder at Liam Becker as he worked on something at the station that used to belong to Suzie Costello. He was cleaning the field equipment and returning items to storage cases, but Ianto was pleased to see that the items headed to archives were left for him. "I remember him shoving the barrel of an assault rifle into my back."
Owen snorted, "And what did you do?"
Ianto shrugged, "Stunned him, then secured the weapons."
Jack laughed out loud, "Well, I would have paid to see that." Jack yelled over to Becker, "Hey Liam, think you'd let Ianto reenact how he remembers first meeting you?"
Becker looked up from his station, then smiled as he wandered over to the gathering, "As long as I get to reenact how I remember too." Ianto blushed as Becker's eyes ran up and down his body, followed by Becker wetting his lips as he made eye contact.
Ianto let out a quick breath, "Right. Well, I think I'll be heading home now. Hopefully I remember where that is." Ianto stood up and ran towards the cog door and reached out for his overcoat.
Jack looked at the rest of the team, "He's right, long day and all. Liam, do the shutdown and everybody head on out. See you in the morning." Jack hopped up from the sofa and was following Ianto through the cog door, his greatcoat on his arm.
Ianto reached his car and had the door unlocked when Jack put his hand over the door handle, "Why don't you let me drive?" Ianto turned to look at Jack, who smiled happily at him and gave a small nod. Jack stepped back so Ianto could go around to the passenger side as he climbed behind the wheel.
Ianto fastened his seat belt and looked at Jack, who was retrieving something from the card slot in the dash. "Here, outside work now. No chance of them getting dissolved by alien secretions- again." Jack dropped the gold band into Ianto's hand as he twisted one onto his finger, where it seemed perfectly natural. Jack looked at Ianto for a moment as the ring sat in his open palm. "Don't tell me you've forgotten? I came back for you, Ianto."
Ianto's gaze drifted from the ring to Jack's face and he smiled, "Of course I remember, just wanted to see you sweat a bit." Jack snorted and started the car while Ianto eased the band onto his finger, where it rested like it belonged. Ianto only half paid attention to Jack's words as he drove and was more interested in resting his own hand over Jack's, and letting his fingers slide over the matching band. He decided, just maybe, that butterfly in Brazil had the right idea.
The title of this fic refers to the Ray Bradbury classic, A Sound of Thunder which discusses the Butterfly effect. The last line is a play on the 1972 Philip Merilees presentation, Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas.
Rated: PG-13
Characters: Team Torchwood and Team Primeval
Summary: An anomaly opens in Bute Park and Torchwood responds, but so does the team from the Anomaly Research Centre.
Warnings: Consider this early Torchwood Series 2 and pre Series 3 of Primeval.
Disclaimers: I should own Torchwood and its characters. I'd do a damn sight better job of caring for them than those pillocks.
Notes: For the antigwenallies Crossover Challenge.
Cardiff, Wales
The rift alarms blared throughout the underground base of Torchwood Three. Jack Harkness stormed out of his office, Ianto Jones close on his heels carrying his Captain's greatcoat over his arm. "Tosh? What is it?" He barked as he fastened his belt after sliding his Webley's holster on.
Toshiko Sato turned in her chair and and began typing quickly at an alternate keyboard. The odd deep mumbling of the Torchwood mainframe's alien core chattered away and suddenly went silent. "It's- well, I'm not sure what it is, Jack. It's almost like a rift portal has opened and is staying open?" Tosh turned to her main keyboard and kept typing, "There's no record of anything like this happening in all the years we've been monitoring the rift."
Jack titled his arms back allowing Ianto to quickly dress Jack in his greatcoat and with a quick shrug of his shoulders, the coat settled and the Captain was prepared. "Call Owen and Gwen, have them meet us at the location. Where is it, anyway?" Ianto was slipping his own overcoat on after checking his sidearm and dropping a PDA into his pocket.
Tosh had her jacket and bag in one hand while she quickly sent texts to the missing team members. "Bute Park, somewhere around the Gorsedd stones."
Ianto actually stopped for a moment at that, "That's a very public place." He looked at Jack, "We'll need the constabulary to cordon off the area."
Jack waved his arm as the cog door rolled back, "Get on it Ianto, give them whatever story you need to clear the area. Let's get moving!"
London, England
The people of the Anomaly Research Centre froze as the anomaly detector, only recently perfected by Connor Temple, made itself known with a thunderous klaxon. The eccentrically dressed young man was suddenly running towards the monitor along with the rest of the centre's main field team.
"What do you we have?" Nick Cutter asked, his attention fixed on the screen as the young man typed at a keyboard.
"Coming up now. Wow." Connor seemed impressed at the results.
Captain Becker appeared at their sides, "Cardiff? We're going to Cardiff?" He was rather nonplussed by the idea.
"That's where the anomaly is, that's where we go." Cutter said bluntly then turned to look up to where James Lester stood, leaning against a railing, "We still do that now, don't we?"
Lester gave a quiet snort then replied, "Of course, but don't be surprised if you have- ahem- competition when you get there."
Cutter and Becker looked between each other then back at Lester. "Competition?" Becker queried.
Lester stiffened slightly, "Torchwood."
Bute Park, Cardiff
"Thanks again Andy, we really do appreciate you and the boys clearing the area." Gwen Cooper smiled broadly at the long suffering Andy Davidson in his stab vest and high visibility overcoat. "It makes things so much easier for us to do the real work when you lot handle the little things." She patted him on the arm and completely missed the stiffening of his back at her last comment. "We'll let you know when you can leave. " With a final bland smile, she turned and headed into Bute Park tapping her comm, "Jack, I've taken care of securing the park. We can move in now."
Owen Harper rolled his eyes before activating his own comm, "I'm sure they appreciate all of your hard work Gwen, but Jack, Ianto and Tosh have already been here two hours." He paused and checked the portable rift monitor he was carrying, "They've already located the rift event and Tosh is monitoring it. Something came through so we're searching the park."
Gwen piped in, "Then I should head to where Tosh is, to help find whatever it is that came through." She quickly cut off her comm and began running towards the Gorsedd stones.
Owen just shook his head and pulled the CB radio from his pocket, "Ianto, Jack? Gwen's heading towards Tosh. She cut me off before I could tell her that whatever is going on damages our comms." He stopped speaking as the rift monitor began beeping loudly, "Jack? I think whatever it was is heading towards Gwen- fast!"
Jack stopped next to the trunk carving that was liberally splashed in blood and caught an unwelcome scent, "Damn. Ianto- where are you?"
"The animal wall. There's quite a bit of blood splattered around the top, near the bear." He paused for a moment, "Jack, I think we've got more than one of whatever they are."
Jack was already running towards the stones and Tosh so his words were clipped, "Everyone back to the stones. Weapons out and keep an eye out in every direction, I hope these aren't what I think they are."
Toshiko Sato had several scanners sitting around the stone circle, all collecting data on the strangely pulsating sphere floating directly about the central platform stone. She was certain that whatever this was, it wasn't related to the rift; as every visual record of rift activity looked more like golden light pouring like smoke while this was something different entirely. She was hard pressed to describe it as anything other than shards of glass pulsing rhythmically. The portal, as she'd come to call it, seemed to be stable and fixed in location which made collecting data easy. After Owen arrived and they discovered their subcutaneous communicators were inoperable after coming near the portal, the others set out with portable rift monitors for signs of anything coming through. In a fit of curiosity, Tosh had tossed a spare scanner at the orb after it had pulled metal items from her field kit.
The data was intriguing to say the least. She was tempted to say that the portal lead to another time period on Earth and apparently allowed travel without physical damage. The scanner's camera showed crumbling buildings overgrown with vegetation and what may have been the rusted out remains of cars. She'd been so focused on the data pouring into her computer station in the rear of the SUV, she hadn't noticed Gwen Cooper running towards the SUV or the crackling from the CB radio sitting next to her on the seat.
Gwen stopped running, the stitch her side made worse because she couldn't breath due to her too tight jeans and exceedingly high heels. She straightened up and saw the strange glowing ball in the stone circle and was mesmerized like a cat with a laser pointer. The pulses were lulling her, making her eyes feel heavy and she was so focused on it that she never saw or heard what slashed at her with sharp claws. Or dragged her, bleeding, away and towards the light.
One of the message windows beeped frantically as Tosh studied another screen of data. When she selected the window, she glimpsed something moving fast out the corner of her eye. By the time she'd turned her head, all she could see was a momentary flash at the portal before it returned to it's regular pulsing. Returning her attention to the alert, she frowned at the results and quickly grabbed for the handheld radio. "Jack? Jack, something just went into the portal and," she took a deep breath, "I think it took Gwen with it."
Jack came to a halt, his heart pounding from the exertion and Tosh's words and he closed his eyes. In the trees above, something moved quietly followed by a nearly inaudible chirp as it saw the area below like an echo save for the quickly beating heart of prey. Jack's eyes flew open and he looked above and around, his Webley held high ready to fire. The faint chirp came again and he turned quickly in that direction and fired, then heard rustling branches and silence. He quickly activated the radio, "Everyone to the SUV, keep your weapons out and ready. Tosh, lock the doors and don't open them unless it's one of us. I know what we're up against and this is bad!" Jack began running as quickly as possible towards the SUV, but kept his gun out and his senses strained for the chirp- the echo location signal of Earth's most dangerous predator.
Owen was cursing under his breath as he caught sight of the SUV, backlit by the pulsing light. He still had his gun out, but he was gulping to get air from running the entire distance. He looked down for a moment and froze at what he saw before him. The Torchwood standard issue sidearm hadn't been fired, but the finger, with it's manicured nail was resting against the trigger. But nothing else remained of Gwen Cooper, save some blood.
"Connor, how much further?" Cutter's question floated from the passenger seat to the back of the silver truck where Connor was holding his portable scanner.
Connor checked the scanner again before answering, "Just up ahead, maybe a quarter of a mile?" The detector lacked detailed maps for the area because honestly, did anything ever happen in Wales? Looking through the windscreen, they all silently cursed at the police barricade that was obviously between them and the anomaly.
Cutter picked up the radio, "Jenny, looks like we've got a job for you." They came to a stop at the blockade and as a group poured from the two vehicles. Jenny Lewis looked at the milling constables and noticed one person, a young man in a well fitted suit, seemingly giving orders to a blond haired constable. Deciding he was obviously in charge, she headed in his direction as Captain Becker began outfitting the team with weapons and flack vests. Abby and Connor exchanged amused looks as they took the vests and quietly dropped them back into the storage locker they came from.
Jenny stopped in front of the constable and man in the suit and quickly started her rapid fire attempt to bully them out of the way, "Hello, this is now official government business. If you'd be so kind to keep the general public away from the quarantine zone and withdraw your officers my team will take care of things." She smiled blandly at the two men, then frowned as the constable began laughing to himself while looking between her and the suited man, who on closer inspection couldn't be much older than Connor. "Excuse me, but I see nothing amusing constable. As I said, this is now official government business."
The police constable continued sniggering under his breath and threw his arms in the air, "Don't mind me, us simple coppers will just keep the area cordoned for whichever of you lot wins." Then turned away and headed towards his colleagues.
"Now. As I said, this is government business, if you'd kindly move out of the way." Jenny began to push by the man in the suit, but was stunned when his hand closed over her arm and then she noticed the shoulder holster he was wearing. "Let go of me this instant! Who do you think you are?"
Ianto Jones released the woman's arm and stepped directly in front of her, "Torchwood."
Cutter saw the heated words between Jenny and some man in a suit and had began walking towards her, Becker following close behind with his rifle at the ready. They both began running when the man grabbed Jenny's arm and held her before pushing her back slightly. They'd just arrive as the man announced 'Torchwood.' "What's Torchwood?"
Ianto turned to the newcomers, "Torchwood is in charge of this sight and that's all you need to know. If you would all kindly return to your vehicles and depart, I won't be required to involve the constabulary in your removal." He paused a moment while Tosh informed him about Gwen's apparent death and then Jack's order to return to the SUV. The loss would be hard, especially on Ianto as it would fall to him to erase Gwen from the memories of most of Cardiff and Swansea. He was lost in his own mind for a moment and nearly missed as the rough looking blond man walked past him towards the portal. Ianto came back to reality and had his hand on the man's arm ready to pull him back when a rifle barrel was pushed into his back.
"I'd let go of Professor Cutter young man. This is ARC business now." Captain Becker's voice was steady and he was very confident of having the situation under control as were the other members of the ARC team, who all had rather smug grins on their faces.
That is, until Captain Becker began twitching and fell to the floor in an ungainly mess as the young man held a formidable looking stun gun against his midsection. The ARC team were stunned into silence at Becker's quick incapacitation and just about found their voice as the man pulled a heavily modified pistol from his jacket and had it trained on Cutter with no doubt to his accuracy. His Welsh tones were pleasant enough as he quietly said, "Now if you'd be so kind to return to the other side of the police line?" With little choice, Cutter moved back to his team, who watched with trepidation as the man disarmed the unconscious Becker then pressed a call button. "Jack? We have a bit of a situation here. It appears the people from the Anomaly Research Centre have arrived."
Jack swore to himself as Owen and Tosh looked between each other confused as they all watched the video play on the terminal again. The grey flash barely registered on the enhanced equipment, but the body it dragged with it through the portal was clearly seen. The leather jacket, the boots, the street urchin top. Jack reached over and clicked the video feed off. "Right, this is monumentally bad." He stopped as Ianto's voice came over the radio and reported. "Oh, it just gets better, doesn't it?" Jack sighed. "Ianto? We're coming to you. I need to see these people and then I need you to do something for me." He clicked off the radio and climbed into the driver's seat as Owen and Tosh pulled their doors closed. Jack's driving was a reckless as ever and they quickly arrived at the police cordon to find Ianto standing calmly while several unknown people with silver trucks mulled about. The team quickly climbed out of the SUV and the two groups came face-to-face.
Jack noted, with approval, that the apparent military presence was unconscious on the tarmac with his hands secured behind him. Tosh looked at Ianto for a moment then back at the unconscious man before asking, "What did he do?"
"Held his assault rifle to my back," Ianto replied in the same calm tone he used when answering what type of biscuits were available for tea.
Owen shook his head, "You really are too fond of that stun gun, mate." He knelt down and checked the man's condition. "He's fine. Probably wake with a banging headache, but he probably deserved it." Owen finally noticed the group that mulling about, "Blimey, and people say we're a motley bunch."
Abby Maitland didn't take kindly to the comment, "Oi! Watch it git or I'll be wiping that smirk off your face with my fist!" Connor cringed at Abbey's threat since he knew she'd probably try to carry it out.
Jack stepped forward, "Now, now kids. We can all play together without this can't we?" He looked directly at the shaggy haired blond, "So you're Professor Cutter?" Jack made no attempt to hide the fact that he was giving Cutter the once over, "I have to admit, old Jimmy didn't do bad. Such a pretty little team."
It was Jenny who actually blurted, "Jimmy? You mean James Lester? How do you know about our work?" Cutter was still silently chewing his lip as the tall man in the coat blatantly eye fucked him. "We're a top secret government project- you can't possibly have access."
The ARC team were all resoundingly shocked by the snickers and chuckles that Jenny's comment received. Cutter finally asked, "What's Torchwood?" The man in the long coat smiled.
"Let's just say we're a bit higher up on the food chain than you when it comes to the unusual." Jack answered calmly, "But for now, why don't you tell us what you know and we'll decide if you can offer any help?"
Cutter bristled at the condescending tone but answered, "We've been dealing with temporal anomalies for over two years. Our detector says there's one open here, right now."
Tosh looked at Jack, "It's temporal, not rift activity? I wonder why we've never registered one in the past?" She was already typing away at her computer in the back of the SUV before Jack could answer.
He spared a glance for her, "We probably have, just assumed they were rift spikes. It wasn't until your recent redesign of the rift activity programs that we would even note that the energy readings were different." He turned back to Cutter, "Ever dealt with something coming through from the future?"
It was Ianto that noted the reflexive stiffening of the ARC team's backs at Jack's question and he spoke softly, "I would say yes, from that response."
Jack looked at them carefully, "How about a creature about two and a half metres tall, solid grey and wicked fast? Oh, and kills so quickly you barely catch sight of it?" Connor was backing away towards the truck and Abby was looking to the trees for any sign of movement while Cutter and Jenny remained staring. "Have any luck?"
Cutter shook his head, "Brought a greenhouse down on one. Had help with the others."
Jack sighed, "Desmodus Invictus, nasty creatures that will one day become the most feared killers in the universe." Jack's words carried obvious experience, "We've lost one of our team to them tonight; but they always hunt in pairs so there's likely another still roaming." Jack turned to Ianto, "Release their body guard Ianto, I'm sure he'll be embarrassed enough to behave. Then I need you to retrieve some items from secured archives for me." Ianto knelt down and released the cuffs from Captain Becker then turned to Jack for additional instructions. "I need security boxes 8674 and 2264, take Tosh with you and get back as quickly as you can." Ianto gave a nod and headed towards the SUV where Tosh remained.
"Owen, you stay here with me and our new friends. We'll take their vehicles to the portal and continue monitoring. Maybe we'll get lucky." Jack turned back to Cutter, "If that's okay with you?"
Cutter and his team didn't really see that they had any choice. After rousing Becker and loading him into the second vehicle, the ARC team, along with the members of Torchwood entered Bute Park and headed to the Gorsedd stones.
A shapely woman in worn field gear watched from a nearby tree with interest; perhaps this trip wouldn't be a total waste.
Tosh watched with horror as Ianto opened the secured archive box and extracted the sonic modulator. The very device that had landed her in a UNIT prison and then at Torchwood was now sitting on the desk in front of her with Ianto looking on with concern. "Can you make sure it works?" She looked at him in horror, but then checked her response- he obviously didn't know the device's history.
"I can compare it to the schematics, check the power source; but Jack's the only one that can confirm if it works or not." She quickly had the plans spread out and the device sitting atop them. She avoided touching the device as much as possible, it was the smoking gun of her nightmares and she'd hoped never to see it again. It seemed to be untouched since she'd built it, and the power cell was still fully charged. She was staring at the device as Ianto returned with a second box and quickly removed a device that looked something like a remote control with a large glass panel at the top. He placed the item on the table and then found a set of instructions in the bottom of the security box.
"Apparently this will close the portal if we can access it's controls. The notes say mainframe understands the technology, but is hostile towards it." He handed her the notes, "Think you can patch it into one of the PDA's maybe?" He placed the sonic modulator and its documents back in the box while Tosh started working on the new project. Ianto walked to his workstation, trying not to linger too long near the station that was- had been- Gwen's. He didn't look forward to packing her life away, but that would wait until this was resolved. At his computer he opened the life form database and typed in the name Jack had mentioned, Desmodus Invictus, and waited a moment. The system brought up record after record marked with hazard level one warnings and then finally a picture. "Holy hell!" He dropped into his chair and looked at the nightmarish creature, it's curved talons and sharp fangs and the horrid face that screamed 'killer.' Ianto finally closed the image window and began reading the reports that detailed Torchwood's experience with these creatures and the terrifyingly high body count that surrounded them. He looked back to where Tosh was interconnecting the device to a field PDA and back at the reports, "Tosh? I think you really need to hurry that up."
"I don't trust these people, Sir." Captain Becker was still quietly fuming as the people from Torchwood directed the ARC team. "We should call this in. If these people supposedly have priority over us, then Mister Lester should be able to confirm it." Becker clenched his teeth slightly, but it made his head ache, a left over effect of the stun gun the man in the suit had used on him earlier.
Jack looked over at the obviously perturbed military man and smiled, "Oh trust me, Jimmy will be more than a bit embarrassed if you mention us; especially me." Jack positively leered, "But does he still wear those really sharp suits?"
Abby elbowed Connor hard as he snickered under his breath. But they both nearly lost it when the other man from Torchwood snorted and spoke out, "Bloody hell Jack, is there a single bloke in a suit that you don't ogle?"
Jack turned on his full grin, showing more teeth than the ARC team had seen from the future shark, and simply oozed satisfaction, "It's the ties."
Cutter ignored the chattering behind him and remained staring at the fractured shards of the time anomaly. Jenny approach quietly and stood next to him, "So, the creatures- they're what killed Stephen, aren't they?" Cutter didn't reply, so she went on. "Helen. Helen's involved again."
Cutter looked at her sharply, but said nothing. They turned back to the anomaly, watching the light pulse and the shards reflect images of the surroundings- and the future. A snapping branch had nearly every person in the two groups crouching and reaching for sidearms.
Ianto Jones and Toshiko Sato both stood with their hands raised as several handguns and one assault rifle were leveled at them. In his typically dry manner, Ianto looked amongst them and said, "Right. Now wouldn't be a good time to say 'boo?'" He shook the security box pointedly, "I believe this is the delivery you requested?"
Jack strode over to Ianto and had his hands wrapped around Ianto's neck, pulling him in for a triumphant kiss before pulling away with a grin. "Didn't bring any coffee too, did you?"
Owen snorted and turned away to where Tosh was setting up some sort device Owen had never seen. Connor was coveting the shiny technology that the Torchwood team had to hand. He nearly had a hand on it when Owen slapped it away with a shaking finger. Abby looked on and finally asked, "So what's that supposed to do?"
Tosh finished connecting the device and was pleased to see both the device and her controller light up, "It will send a pulse into the portal and seal it." She called out, "We're ready to go, Jack."
Jack had already taken the security box from Ianto and configured the sonic modulator while Ianto opened the back of the SUV and suddenly the entire ARC team were again crouching and reaching for weapons when a roar erupted from the vehicle.
"What the bloody hell is that!" Becker yelled as he had his rifle pointed directly at the creature being held on a chained collar by the man who'd calmly taken him down.
Ianto glared at the creature which turned back around and started slowly moving forward, "Weevil. Don't worry, she's still a bit sedated; but don't go waving anything you want to keep in front of her." Ianto very unsubtly let Janet charge forward slightly, making Becker jump back. "Sorry. Must have let the chain out a bit too much." He gave Becker one of his more innocent smiles as he directed Janet towards her destination.
Cutter had enough and finally asked, "What exactly are you lot doing?"
Jack wandered to where Ianto had staked Janet's chain to the earth. She crouched down and was scenting the air, letting the odd growl rumble in her throat. "You've heard of using a goat to bait a tiger trap? Well, we're using a weevil to bait an über bat. Those bats are pretty much blind and depend on ultra sensitive sonography to see their prey- they lock in on heartbeats." He held up the modulator, "This will generate enough white noise to make our heartbeats invisible to it, but Janet there has a much larger heart and a huge ribcage in which to resonate."
Jenny looked on in horror, "You're using that poor creature as bait?"
"Yes. But don't worry; Weevils are tougher than you might imagine. Once Janet there has our bat's attention, I'll crank up the modulator's settings and turn it's melon organ into a lump of cottage cheese." Jack held an arm out, "Now if you'd all get in your vehicles, we can get this over with."
As a group, the ARC team exchanged glances then climbed into their trucks while the Torchwood team climbed into their black SUV. The sonic modulator had been locked into a frame sitting in front of the SUV and everyone knew when it activated as the buzzing filled their ears. The weevil increased it's growling and began to let loose full on bellows as it pulled against the chain spiked into the soil. Less than a minute passed before a loud thud shook one of the ARC trucks and nails scraped over metal as the bat creature landed on top of the truck before fixing on the bait.
The bat was hardly off the truck and leaping towards the weevil when the sonic modulator's signal was ramped up and hit the bat like it had ran directly into a brick wall. The creature fell to the ground scrabbling and had the unfortunate luck of landing within reach of the weevil which quickly tore at it with powerful claws. The maimed bat fell through the portal and they all watched as Torchwood's device sent a pulse of energy into the anomaly and in a flash it was gone.
Abby looked at the other members of her team, "Is that it?"
Jack turned in his seat and asked Tosh, "Status?"
"No activity readings. It's sealed." She let out a sigh of relief and sat back in her seat. For a moment she was relieved, then she clamped a hand over her mouth, "Poor Gwen."
Ianto sat in his seat, looking down at his hands, "I tried to warn her. Make her understand what Torchwood really was, but..."
Owen couldn't help, "She probably told you to cheer up."
Ianto snorted, "Something like that."
While the ARC team remained stunned in their trucks and the Torchwood team spared a moment for their lost comrade, Helen Cutter took her chance and came running from her hiding place and grabbed the square device Torchwood had used to close the anomaly. Cutter noticed first and had his door thrown open yelling "Helen!" As people came flying from all of the vehicles to give pursuit.
Ianto was fastest and was nearly on her heels as she pointed the device in front of her and suddenly another portal opened which she ran into. Ianto barely heard Jack's cry of "Ianto, no!" Before he'd already entered the glittering portal between eras.
He couldn't help but stop for a moment to look around, seeing the waist high grasses and grazing prehistoric animals. He caught sight of the woman and gave chase, gun out and ready to fire.
The ARC team were lined up around the anomaly with guns directed at the remaining three members of Torchwood, who were not happy about being stopped. "We have to go after him, now step aside." Jack snarled.
Becker released the safety on his rifle, as if to make a point; but apparently the Torchwood team didn't believe he was serious, or they really didn't care. It was Jenny who finally spoke, "You can't go through, there might not even be a breathable atmosphere on the other side."
Jack actually snorted at them, "Please, like that matters to me. Now get out of the way." He pushed forward, but Cutter stepped into his path, "Move professor."
Cutter put a hand on Jack's chest, "I can't. That's my wife, your friend is probably already dead."
Ianto had dropped down into the grass as the woman open fired. His arm was throbbing, but he knew it was just a graze. He was more concerned for the dead monkey-like creature that had the misfortune of poking its head up during the first shot. He quickly checked for the woman and had his bearings when she spoke.
"I suggest you get back to the anomaly young man. This little device you people had is quite clever, and it says that opening will close in a minute. Now if you leave me and the device, I'll let you go." Helen's voice was collected and Ianto was quite sure she'd open fire if he even considered standing up. "Throw your weapon away and I promise you can go safely. Not much time left now."
Ianto paused a moment to gather his strength, and in one quick movement pushed up and fired two rapid shots. The first hit the woman square in the shoulder making her lose the gun- the exact same shot he'd used in the past to incapacitate Owen- while the second was meant to destroy the device but instead hit another of the strange monkey-like creatures. The woman was cursing loudly as he approached, but he heard the device beeping and looked back to see the portal begin to fade. With no time, Ianto darted towards the anomaly and ran through just as it blinked out of existence.
"I said, 'get out of my way!'" Jack growled at Captain Becker, who had his assault rifle pressed against Jack's chest. There was a flash as the anomaly flared and then was gone.
Ianto looked around as he clutched a hand over the wound on his shoulder, "Sorry. She got away."
"Ianto!" Jack pushed past someone dressed in military black to hug Ianto and placed a kiss on his lips, "I was afraid I'd lost you."
Owen was already at his side with a med kit checking Ianto's arm while Tosh smiled from where she leaned against the SUV checking the readouts for any other activity. Ianto looked at Jack and frowned, "I am sorry about Gwen."
Jack looked at him quizzically, then at Owen. "Gwen?"
Ianto frowned, "Gwen Cooper? Jack? She's been part of the team for nearly two years?"
Jack held Ianto closer, "Owen, I think you need to check him for trauma- he's remembering people that don't exist." Jack looked over his shoulder, "Liam, get Janet back in the SUV."
"Of course, Jack."
Ianto turned in Jack's arms to see the man he'd taken down earlier heading towards Janet, except instead of black fatigues he was in tight jeans and a well fitted short sleeved shirt. Ianto frowned a bit but felt Jack's chuckling vibrating through them both. Jack whispered in Ianto's ear, "Be nice to Liam, you know he still wants you." Ianto pushed away a bit from Jack and really looked at him for a moment in confusion.
"Jack, I think things have changed." Ianto's eyes grew wide, "Oh god! Those monkeys were killed!" Ianto pulled away and went to Cutter, "If we were in the far past, and say a couple of animals happened to get killed in the crossfire, could it change things now?"
Cutter looked forlornly at Jenny Lewis, then back to Ianto, "Yes."
Ianto spun back to Jack and was about to say something when he halted and watched Becker lead the weevil towards the SUV and a woman in black fatigues finally turned so he could see her. The hair was pulled back, but the the same overly large eyes and gap teeth stared back at him from safety glasses. "Gwen!" Ianto gasped as he ran forward.
Second Lieutenant Morag Hull frowned as the man who had earlier used a stun gun on her yelled and ran towards her. She had been watching the creature, the weevil, be moved by the Torchwood operative with concern as it was obviously deadly. She didn't understand this Welshman as he ran at her calling Gwen over and over, but she must have lost her concentration since she allowed her guard to drop just at the wrong moment.
The weevil thrashed out at the woman so quickly, no one could have stopped her. Both the ARC and Torchwood teams froze for a split second as Janet's claws sliced across the woman's throat in a flash. Everyone was moving as the woman fell to the ground, some towards her and others to help contain the weevil and load it into the SUV.
Owen's medical kit was spread across the ground, but there wasn't much he could do. She was dead before she hit the dirt. Ianto watched as the ARC team moved slowly to collect their fallen military aide while Tosh loaded the last of the equipment into the SUV. Owen had already climbed into the passenger seat of the SUV to forget everything that had happened. Ianto remained fixed to the spot in a daze and barely heard the conversation between Jack and Cutter.
"Sorry about your agent. That weevil rarely tries anything." Jack knew it was a lame excuse.
Cutter shook his head, "Didn't even know her name. We tend to go through military people quickly." He looked over Jack's shoulder at Ianto, "Be careful with that one. He just witnessed a reality shift and that's..." Cutter lost his train of thought as Jenny climbed into the truck.
Jack gave a weak smile, "Quantum realities. Really can do your head in." Jack patted Cutter's shoulder, "Thanks for your concern, but we'll take care of things here. Say hi to Jimmy for me." With that, Jack turned around, his greatcoat flaring and headed towards Ianto. Cutter watched as Jack placed an arm around the young man's waist and led him towards the black SUV and they both climbed in and drove away. Cutter looked around one last time before climbing into the truck, allowing Connor to drive them back to the ARC.
Ianto sat on the lumpy sofa in the Hub with his second double whiskey and looked at the subtle differences. The old conference room was again the conference room and the furniture in Jack's office was how it had been prior to the Abaddon fiasco. Jack sat next to him, a comfortable source of heat and had his fingers laced with Ianto's free hand. Owen wandered over and dropped heavily into a desk chair while Tosh continued to type away. Ianto blinked and looked at Jack, "Sorry? I was miles away."
Jack smiled, "It's okay. Reality shifts can do a person's head in." He became serious, "How much have you noticed that's different?"
Ianto frowned, "Well, other than Gwen, there's only the things that she herself forced that have changed. So, I guess it's not a lot." Ianto smiled back at Jack, "You really don't remember Gwen Cooper?"
Before Jack could speak Tosh turned around, "Just finished the search. There's no Gwen Elizabeth Cooper in any of the national databases. I checked on the parents and according to the records they only had one child, a son named Edward, and he's currently serving a life sentence at HMP Full Sutton." Tosh let her glasses fall onto her desk as she looked at Ianto, "You really don't remember Liam at all?"
Ianto looked over Tosh's shoulder at Liam Becker as he worked on something at the station that used to belong to Suzie Costello. He was cleaning the field equipment and returning items to storage cases, but Ianto was pleased to see that the items headed to archives were left for him. "I remember him shoving the barrel of an assault rifle into my back."
Owen snorted, "And what did you do?"
Ianto shrugged, "Stunned him, then secured the weapons."
Jack laughed out loud, "Well, I would have paid to see that." Jack yelled over to Becker, "Hey Liam, think you'd let Ianto reenact how he remembers first meeting you?"
Becker looked up from his station, then smiled as he wandered over to the gathering, "As long as I get to reenact how I remember too." Ianto blushed as Becker's eyes ran up and down his body, followed by Becker wetting his lips as he made eye contact.
Ianto let out a quick breath, "Right. Well, I think I'll be heading home now. Hopefully I remember where that is." Ianto stood up and ran towards the cog door and reached out for his overcoat.
Jack looked at the rest of the team, "He's right, long day and all. Liam, do the shutdown and everybody head on out. See you in the morning." Jack hopped up from the sofa and was following Ianto through the cog door, his greatcoat on his arm.
Ianto reached his car and had the door unlocked when Jack put his hand over the door handle, "Why don't you let me drive?" Ianto turned to look at Jack, who smiled happily at him and gave a small nod. Jack stepped back so Ianto could go around to the passenger side as he climbed behind the wheel.
Ianto fastened his seat belt and looked at Jack, who was retrieving something from the card slot in the dash. "Here, outside work now. No chance of them getting dissolved by alien secretions- again." Jack dropped the gold band into Ianto's hand as he twisted one onto his finger, where it seemed perfectly natural. Jack looked at Ianto for a moment as the ring sat in his open palm. "Don't tell me you've forgotten? I came back for you, Ianto."
Ianto's gaze drifted from the ring to Jack's face and he smiled, "Of course I remember, just wanted to see you sweat a bit." Jack snorted and started the car while Ianto eased the band onto his finger, where it rested like it belonged. Ianto only half paid attention to Jack's words as he drove and was more interested in resting his own hand over Jack's, and letting his fingers slide over the matching band. He decided, just maybe, that butterfly in Brazil had the right idea.
The title of this fic refers to the Ray Bradbury classic, A Sound of Thunder which discusses the Butterfly effect. The last line is a play on the 1972 Philip Merilees presentation, Does the Flap of a Butterfly's Wings in Brazil Set Off a Tornado in Texas.