beautiful Iris 2/20
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Tosh/Owen
Summary: when a seemingly cut-and-dried incident calls out Torchwood early one morning all is not as it originally seems. Alien technology leads the team into a trap of danger and curiosity, propelling them to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces. Split into two, the team must find a way back before past events puts one member of Torchwood into danger.
Spoilers: season1 up to episode 7.
A/N : I haven't written anything for a while, so I decided to finish this fic. It now has 20 parts an an actual ending :) please r&r
Disclaimer these characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing RTD's toys and promise to put them back when I'm done :)
Part 1 HERE
“What do you think it is?” Ianto asked, knitting his eyebrows together in concentration as he looked over Jack’s shoulder at the object.
“I don’t know.“
Jack held the small spherical object in the palm of his hand and inspected it closely. It was matt black in colour and cold to the touch, with deep ridges and purple lights that flickered on and off in what seemed to be a completely random fashion. It was beautiful and delicate, with a strange scent that seemed to have a lavender aroma and when the lights flashed, it illuminated his face with a violet glow.
“Any ideas, Tosh?" He asked, holding it out to her.
“Not really.” She sighed, and took it from him to inspect. She turned it over and, camouflaged well within the structure, she spied a small flat button carved delicately into the device. Warily, she pressed it and waited; all the purple lights went out and several green lights flashed in sync with a high pitched beep that quickened slightly when she turned around to face the other direction. The aroma changed too, and the beautiful lavender and honey scent vanished without a trace, almost as though it had never been there at all. “The smell,” she said, confused as she sniffed the air. “It's gone.”
“Sensory disguise system,” Jack smiled. "Oh that's old school! I haven't seen that in years.”
“So, it disguises itself with a scent to try and make it look like something attractive, when really it's something else?” Gwen asked, then smiled. “Like Owen's aftershave on a Saturday night then?”
“That's uncalled for.” Owen said. “I wear quality aftershave, and I'll have you know that a certain kind of woman finds me very attractive.”
“Yeah.” Ianto agreed, without the tiniest hint of an audible chuckle, or a smile. "The desperate kind.”
“What is this, pick on Owen day?”
“I've got it!” Tosh exclaimed. “It’s a tracking device.” She smiled with amazement, her eyes wide with wonder. “For some reason it's camouflaged, maybe a kind of safety mechanism, or a diversion, but it's definitely a tracker, it's tracking something right now.”
“Tracking what?”
“No idea,” Tosh sighed audibly again, continuing to walk past Jack; the beeps continued to get faster and louder. “Weevils, or some other life form? Of course it might be something completely different; other technology, radiation. There's a list of infinite possibilities to consider.”
“Alternatively,“ Owen interrupted, “it could just be a useless do-hickey.”
“I doubt it, when was the last time that someone was murdered for a useless do-hickey?” she asked.
“Murdered? Who said it was murder?” He looked around pointedly. “I’m pretty sure it was just a standard Weevil attack.”
“I’m with Tosh on this one,” Ianto said as he pulled a chain off the other corpse and looked at the device. It was identical to the one he had found earlier, complete with the purple flashing lights and beautiful scent. “It seems a little bit odd that two people would get attacked by a Weevil on the same night that they just happened to be carrying these things. Doesn't it?”
“I don’t believe in coincidence.” Jack looked thoughtful and took both devices, activating the second the way that Tosh had the first. “They have the same signal, that's enough for me to be suspicious.”
“Let me see them again?” Ianto asked. "They look familiar.”
“In the archive?” he asked.
“No, I don't think so. They just look familiar."
"Familiar how?"
"I dunno, maybe from Torchwood one?"
“What do we think it is then?” Gwen asked.
“I'm with Tosh.” He looked around at the hopeful eager eyes. “Maybe they track each other, all the devices track each other until they can be synchronised; these two are already synchronised, so maybe they're looking for a third?"
“Ianto; I love you!” Jack enthused. “You really are more that a pretty face and a nice pert ass.”
“I do my best.”
“Now, I say we follow this signal and see just where those two were heading,” Jack said, looking expectantly at Ianto. “Lead the way Ianto.”
“Great, I do love a wild Goose chase at one o'clock in the morning,” Owen mumbled to himself as he followed the others down the alleyway.
They walked down the alley and followed the signals. The device led them through several of the dark alleyways and towards a few large warehouse buildings. The lights on the contraption started to blink at a faster pace until, suddenly, they stopped and a static red light shone out into the darkness.
Ianto looked at the building in front of him and then back to the device. Most of the windows were broken, and those of which weren't looked black with dirt. The brickwork seemed flimsy, as though it was in the process of falling down, and the roof was barely there; a skeleton, burnt through in places with only a few tiles still in tact. To say it looked unsafe was an understatement. The wooden door was green, with old chipped paint and gaps between the two doors. Even the padlock seemed old, and just like the hinges, looked rusted into place.
“This is it,” Ianto said. “The signals continue in there.” The substandard wooden door looked as though it would fall open with one gust of wind and rattled dangerously in the strong breeze. “Gorgeous place.”
“Okay.” Jack walked up to the door and peeked through the cracks in the wood. “It's dead in there, but we don't want to take any chances." He pulled his Webley revolver from his holster, and with three firm kicks from his boot, the door swung open.
The others filtered in behind him, lighting every corner with their torches and covering the exists with their guns. Ianto moved beside Gwen, staying out of the way of a swinging roof beam that threatened to fall at any moment.
“Why do I not like this place?” he whispered.
“Because you fear for your life perhaps?” She smiled and nudged him a little. “It's a bit rickety.”
“Rickety? It's beyond rickety. It's a death-trap.”
“They're solid these old buildings,” Gwen said, “they look flimsy, but they're sound really.”
A piece of debris broke free from the ceiling and fell down in front of them; the Welshman stepped back, taking Gwen with him and watched the decayed wood smash as it hit the ground. Gwen put her hand on Ianto's shoulder as thanks before they stepped over the debris and continued to make their way through the warehouse.
“Oh yes,” Ianto droned sarcastically. “Solid.”
“There's nothing here,” Gwen said, moving beside Jack as he walked through the dark room cautiously. “If anything is living here it must have a death wish.”
“There's always something.”
“It's empty!”
“Obviously not that empty.” Tosh pointed to the devices that Ianto was holding. “We have a signal.”
A familiar growl sounded from the darkness and Owen lit the area with his torch, illuminating a Weevil who turned before disappearing. “Not empty,” he said, “not even a little bit.”
“You and Tosh take care of the Weevil, we'll go after the signal.”
Gwen watched Toshiko and Owen go before turning to Jack, glaring.
“What?” he asked, innocent.
“Do you really think it's wise to send those two off alone?”
“It's one Weevil, Owen and Tosh can take care of one Weevil by themselves. We need to concentrate on the job at hand.” Jack turned towards Ianto who was looking down at the device. The lights had started slowly blinking again and when he turned to face the opening of a long corridor they started to flash erratically. “Ianto, what's happening with that signal?”
“That way.” Ianto gestured to the corridor. “It seems pretty strong.”
“Then that's the way we go,” Jack said, shining his torch into the darkness, “I do love dark places, don't you?”
“Depends,” Ianto said.
“Why? Jack moved a little closer to him in he dark. "There's good times to be had in dark corners you know?” Ianto could feel the Captain's eyes on him, burning a gaze through his cool skin.
“I bet there are." Ianto smiled a little; he could feel the Captain's eyes on him, burning a gaze through his cool skin. "But usually if I'm going to have fun in dark corners I like them to be corners without Weevils occupying them at the time.”
“And what's the fun in that?”
Gwen’s voice echoed through the darkness. “I think what Ianto is trying to say, Jack, is that if he's going to be alone with you in a dark corner, he wants to be sure that if he feels teeth pressing against his neck, that it's just you getting a little kinky and not a Weevil trying to rip out his jugular.”
“Oh, God, that's disgusting!” Owen complained, wiping the bottom of his foot on the wall, trying to knock off the layer of Weevil shit. “What the hell do these things eat?”
“Stop moaning.”
“It's past one in the morning and my caffeine levels are dangerously low, plus I just stepped into Weevil crap, so excuse me if I'm not perky enough for you. I'm shattered Tosh, I need my bed.”
“I'm not asking you to be perky,” Tosh said. "Just to be a little more tolerable. This isn't my idea of a fun night either.” She focused her torch onto the ground and groaned; the trail had gone cold. “We're all run into the ground, but we have to get on with it until it quietens down.”
“You really don't get it do you?” he said. “This is Torchwood, things don't quieten down or haven't you noticed that? In fact things have steadily started to get worse recently.”
“I thought it was my imagination. All this rift activity, it feels like something is going on.”
“Theres always something going on.”
“I've had some pretty strange readings lately.”
“Any Weevils yet?” Jack's voice filtered into Owen's earpiece.
“Nope, no Weevils, no wild Goose's either,” Owen said. “In fact there's fuck all down here. Can we go home yet?”
“Not yet, we're still chasing this signal. If it turns up nothing we'll head back.”
“Well hurry up, we need caffeine. A lot of it.”
“Ianto promises industrial strength,” Jack said, chuckle playing deep in his throat. “As always the man's mind is on coffee and don't we just love him for it.”
“I need it so much right now I'd probably shag him for it.”
Suddenly, Ianto's voice came over the system. “You're not my type.”
“If you need any help with the Weevil just let me know and I'll send Ianto down for some backup,” Jack said. "He's good with Weevils."
“Don't you dare,” the Welshman interrupted again. "He wants to shag me, I'm more scared of him than I am of the Weevil.”
Ianto and Gwen led Jack into a large room, it was damp and odorous; the remaining wooden debris on the floor from old broken window frames was rotting, and when Gwen stepped on it her foot just went straight through without any resistance. The sound of scuttling rats made them squirm as they felt the vermin move around their feet, their tails dragging against their ankles.
“This place gives me the creeps,” she said, moving closer to Ianto and bumping into him. “It's so dark, I can't even see my hand in front of my face.” She jumped at the scuttling around her legs. "And all these bloody rats!"
“The term infestation comes to mind,” he said, putting his hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the direction of the signal. “You would think they would knock it down before it falls down.”
“As long as it keeps standing whilst I'm in it, I really don't care.” Gwen glanced over at the device that Ianto was holding and then back to her own. “The signal is getting stronger.”
They walked a little further and then stopped.
“It's here,” Ianto said, pointing to the ground. “X marks the spot.”
Gwen looked at the two devices side-by-side, focusing on the lights as they ceased blinking.
"but where is it?"
“There's nothing here,” Jack said, shining his torch around the bare room, concentrating on a few rats gnawing on something in the corner. “Unless you want to count Roland and his friends.”
“It has to be here.” Ianto looked around the room. “The signal leads us right to this spot, it has to be here.”
“But it's not, there's nothing here,”
"Well it can't be tracking nothing, can it?"
"Unless it's a trap?" Gwen offered. "It wouldn't be the first time.
“Or hidden?" Ianto looked down at the ground and crouched down, shooing the rats away with the head of his torch. “It could just be camouflaged or something.” She ran his gloved fingers over the ground, cringing as he felt a rat brush against his hand. Finally, Ianto rested his hands on a slightly raised patch, and picked something up. "Bingo!"
"Remind me to take you next time I go on an Easter egg hunt." Gwen said, illuminating it with her torch.
“Is that it?” Jack asked, shining light onto it as he stood to face them.
“I think so.” Ianto took a closer look. “Although it doesn't fit to the mould of the others.”
“It doesn't look the same.” Jack took it and turned it over, dusting it off and inspecting it.
There was no denying that it was alien, but it didn't look like the others; where the first two devices were round in shape, this was square, and it was warm to the touch instead of cold like the others. The ridges were shallow, instead of deep, and the display showed no lights at all. He ran his fingers over the flat buttons and gazed up at Gwen and Ianto who looked a little nervous. He pushed the button in the centre of the device and jumped a little when it started to change shape, morphing from square to oblong with rounded edges. Another button appeared in the centre of a flashing green light.
“That's a little unusual,” Gwen said.
“Intriguing though, don't you think?” Jack pressed the new button and watched as two panels slid away, revealing two square holes. “Is that all it does?"
“Maybe the other two devices slot into it.” Ianto looked at the two other consoles, ran his fingers over the buttons and pressed them firmly. Two square tabs jolted out from the bottom of each device and Jack glared at them curiously.
“I wonder what they do.” Jack took them, slotting the tabs into the holes and waited for a moment. “Maybe it's alien Lego,” he chuckled.
“Don't say that, remember alien sudoku?” Gwen asked, “Remember that barrel of laughs?”
“Ahh, the Amok,” Ianto reminisced. “That's something I would rather sooner forget.
“Well it doesn't seem to do anything.” Jack looked at it again, focusing on one of the devices; it seemed to be melting. “Apart from melting."
Suddenly, the three devices started to burn and Jack let it fall from his hand, watching them as they merged into one object. A bright beam of white light shot out and hit the ceiling before engulfing the room, sucking in everything in sight.
Owen and Tosh felt the building shake and stepped away from a falling piece of debris.
"What the?" Owen held onto the wall he was standing beside.
Tosh felt the ground moving and lost her footing, banging her head on the hard stone wall as she fell.
"Are you okay?" Owen crouched down beside her.
"I think so."
"Come on." He helped her up and steadied her, putting his arm around her waist. "I think now would be a good time to get the hell out of here."
"Yeah."
PART 3
Summary: when a seemingly cut-and-dried incident calls out Torchwood early one morning all is not as it originally seems. Alien technology leads the team into a trap of danger and curiosity, propelling them to an unfamiliar place with unfamiliar faces. Split into two, the team must find a way back before past events puts one member of Torchwood into danger.
Spoilers: season1 up to episode 7.
A/N : I haven't written anything for a while, so I decided to finish this fic. It now has 20 parts an an actual ending :) please r&r
Disclaimer these characters are not mine. I'm just borrowing RTD's toys and promise to put them back when I'm done :)
Part 1 HERE
“What do you think it is?” Ianto asked, knitting his eyebrows together in concentration as he looked over Jack’s shoulder at the object.
“I don’t know.“
Jack held the small spherical object in the palm of his hand and inspected it closely. It was matt black in colour and cold to the touch, with deep ridges and purple lights that flickered on and off in what seemed to be a completely random fashion. It was beautiful and delicate, with a strange scent that seemed to have a lavender aroma and when the lights flashed, it illuminated his face with a violet glow.
“Any ideas, Tosh?" He asked, holding it out to her.
“Not really.” She sighed, and took it from him to inspect. She turned it over and, camouflaged well within the structure, she spied a small flat button carved delicately into the device. Warily, she pressed it and waited; all the purple lights went out and several green lights flashed in sync with a high pitched beep that quickened slightly when she turned around to face the other direction. The aroma changed too, and the beautiful lavender and honey scent vanished without a trace, almost as though it had never been there at all. “The smell,” she said, confused as she sniffed the air. “It's gone.”
“Sensory disguise system,” Jack smiled. "Oh that's old school! I haven't seen that in years.”
“So, it disguises itself with a scent to try and make it look like something attractive, when really it's something else?” Gwen asked, then smiled. “Like Owen's aftershave on a Saturday night then?”
“That's uncalled for.” Owen said. “I wear quality aftershave, and I'll have you know that a certain kind of woman finds me very attractive.”
“Yeah.” Ianto agreed, without the tiniest hint of an audible chuckle, or a smile. "The desperate kind.”
“What is this, pick on Owen day?”
“I've got it!” Tosh exclaimed. “It’s a tracking device.” She smiled with amazement, her eyes wide with wonder. “For some reason it's camouflaged, maybe a kind of safety mechanism, or a diversion, but it's definitely a tracker, it's tracking something right now.”
“Tracking what?”
“No idea,” Tosh sighed audibly again, continuing to walk past Jack; the beeps continued to get faster and louder. “Weevils, or some other life form? Of course it might be something completely different; other technology, radiation. There's a list of infinite possibilities to consider.”
“Alternatively,“ Owen interrupted, “it could just be a useless do-hickey.”
“I doubt it, when was the last time that someone was murdered for a useless do-hickey?” she asked.
“Murdered? Who said it was murder?” He looked around pointedly. “I’m pretty sure it was just a standard Weevil attack.”
“I’m with Tosh on this one,” Ianto said as he pulled a chain off the other corpse and looked at the device. It was identical to the one he had found earlier, complete with the purple flashing lights and beautiful scent. “It seems a little bit odd that two people would get attacked by a Weevil on the same night that they just happened to be carrying these things. Doesn't it?”
“I don’t believe in coincidence.” Jack looked thoughtful and took both devices, activating the second the way that Tosh had the first. “They have the same signal, that's enough for me to be suspicious.”
“Let me see them again?” Ianto asked. "They look familiar.”
“In the archive?” he asked.
“No, I don't think so. They just look familiar."
"Familiar how?"
"I dunno, maybe from Torchwood one?"
“What do we think it is then?” Gwen asked.
“I'm with Tosh.” He looked around at the hopeful eager eyes. “Maybe they track each other, all the devices track each other until they can be synchronised; these two are already synchronised, so maybe they're looking for a third?"
“Ianto; I love you!” Jack enthused. “You really are more that a pretty face and a nice pert ass.”
“I do my best.”
“Now, I say we follow this signal and see just where those two were heading,” Jack said, looking expectantly at Ianto. “Lead the way Ianto.”
“Great, I do love a wild Goose chase at one o'clock in the morning,” Owen mumbled to himself as he followed the others down the alleyway.
They walked down the alley and followed the signals. The device led them through several of the dark alleyways and towards a few large warehouse buildings. The lights on the contraption started to blink at a faster pace until, suddenly, they stopped and a static red light shone out into the darkness.
Ianto looked at the building in front of him and then back to the device. Most of the windows were broken, and those of which weren't looked black with dirt. The brickwork seemed flimsy, as though it was in the process of falling down, and the roof was barely there; a skeleton, burnt through in places with only a few tiles still in tact. To say it looked unsafe was an understatement. The wooden door was green, with old chipped paint and gaps between the two doors. Even the padlock seemed old, and just like the hinges, looked rusted into place.
“This is it,” Ianto said. “The signals continue in there.” The substandard wooden door looked as though it would fall open with one gust of wind and rattled dangerously in the strong breeze. “Gorgeous place.”
“Okay.” Jack walked up to the door and peeked through the cracks in the wood. “It's dead in there, but we don't want to take any chances." He pulled his Webley revolver from his holster, and with three firm kicks from his boot, the door swung open.
The others filtered in behind him, lighting every corner with their torches and covering the exists with their guns. Ianto moved beside Gwen, staying out of the way of a swinging roof beam that threatened to fall at any moment.
“Why do I not like this place?” he whispered.
“Because you fear for your life perhaps?” She smiled and nudged him a little. “It's a bit rickety.”
“Rickety? It's beyond rickety. It's a death-trap.”
“They're solid these old buildings,” Gwen said, “they look flimsy, but they're sound really.”
A piece of debris broke free from the ceiling and fell down in front of them; the Welshman stepped back, taking Gwen with him and watched the decayed wood smash as it hit the ground. Gwen put her hand on Ianto's shoulder as thanks before they stepped over the debris and continued to make their way through the warehouse.
“Oh yes,” Ianto droned sarcastically. “Solid.”
“There's nothing here,” Gwen said, moving beside Jack as he walked through the dark room cautiously. “If anything is living here it must have a death wish.”
“There's always something.”
“It's empty!”
“Obviously not that empty.” Tosh pointed to the devices that Ianto was holding. “We have a signal.”
A familiar growl sounded from the darkness and Owen lit the area with his torch, illuminating a Weevil who turned before disappearing. “Not empty,” he said, “not even a little bit.”
“You and Tosh take care of the Weevil, we'll go after the signal.”
Gwen watched Toshiko and Owen go before turning to Jack, glaring.
“What?” he asked, innocent.
“Do you really think it's wise to send those two off alone?”
“It's one Weevil, Owen and Tosh can take care of one Weevil by themselves. We need to concentrate on the job at hand.” Jack turned towards Ianto who was looking down at the device. The lights had started slowly blinking again and when he turned to face the opening of a long corridor they started to flash erratically. “Ianto, what's happening with that signal?”
“That way.” Ianto gestured to the corridor. “It seems pretty strong.”
“Then that's the way we go,” Jack said, shining his torch into the darkness, “I do love dark places, don't you?”
“Depends,” Ianto said.
“Why? Jack moved a little closer to him in he dark. "There's good times to be had in dark corners you know?” Ianto could feel the Captain's eyes on him, burning a gaze through his cool skin.
“I bet there are." Ianto smiled a little; he could feel the Captain's eyes on him, burning a gaze through his cool skin. "But usually if I'm going to have fun in dark corners I like them to be corners without Weevils occupying them at the time.”
“And what's the fun in that?”
Gwen’s voice echoed through the darkness. “I think what Ianto is trying to say, Jack, is that if he's going to be alone with you in a dark corner, he wants to be sure that if he feels teeth pressing against his neck, that it's just you getting a little kinky and not a Weevil trying to rip out his jugular.”
“Oh, God, that's disgusting!” Owen complained, wiping the bottom of his foot on the wall, trying to knock off the layer of Weevil shit. “What the hell do these things eat?”
“Stop moaning.”
“It's past one in the morning and my caffeine levels are dangerously low, plus I just stepped into Weevil crap, so excuse me if I'm not perky enough for you. I'm shattered Tosh, I need my bed.”
“I'm not asking you to be perky,” Tosh said. "Just to be a little more tolerable. This isn't my idea of a fun night either.” She focused her torch onto the ground and groaned; the trail had gone cold. “We're all run into the ground, but we have to get on with it until it quietens down.”
“You really don't get it do you?” he said. “This is Torchwood, things don't quieten down or haven't you noticed that? In fact things have steadily started to get worse recently.”
“I thought it was my imagination. All this rift activity, it feels like something is going on.”
“Theres always something going on.”
“I've had some pretty strange readings lately.”
“Any Weevils yet?” Jack's voice filtered into Owen's earpiece.
“Nope, no Weevils, no wild Goose's either,” Owen said. “In fact there's fuck all down here. Can we go home yet?”
“Not yet, we're still chasing this signal. If it turns up nothing we'll head back.”
“Well hurry up, we need caffeine. A lot of it.”
“Ianto promises industrial strength,” Jack said, chuckle playing deep in his throat. “As always the man's mind is on coffee and don't we just love him for it.”
“I need it so much right now I'd probably shag him for it.”
Suddenly, Ianto's voice came over the system. “You're not my type.”
“If you need any help with the Weevil just let me know and I'll send Ianto down for some backup,” Jack said. "He's good with Weevils."
“Don't you dare,” the Welshman interrupted again. "He wants to shag me, I'm more scared of him than I am of the Weevil.”
Ianto and Gwen led Jack into a large room, it was damp and odorous; the remaining wooden debris on the floor from old broken window frames was rotting, and when Gwen stepped on it her foot just went straight through without any resistance. The sound of scuttling rats made them squirm as they felt the vermin move around their feet, their tails dragging against their ankles.
“This place gives me the creeps,” she said, moving closer to Ianto and bumping into him. “It's so dark, I can't even see my hand in front of my face.” She jumped at the scuttling around her legs. "And all these bloody rats!"
“The term infestation comes to mind,” he said, putting his hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the direction of the signal. “You would think they would knock it down before it falls down.”
“As long as it keeps standing whilst I'm in it, I really don't care.” Gwen glanced over at the device that Ianto was holding and then back to her own. “The signal is getting stronger.”
They walked a little further and then stopped.
“It's here,” Ianto said, pointing to the ground. “X marks the spot.”
Gwen looked at the two devices side-by-side, focusing on the lights as they ceased blinking.
"but where is it?"
“There's nothing here,” Jack said, shining his torch around the bare room, concentrating on a few rats gnawing on something in the corner. “Unless you want to count Roland and his friends.”
“It has to be here.” Ianto looked around the room. “The signal leads us right to this spot, it has to be here.”
“But it's not, there's nothing here,”
"Well it can't be tracking nothing, can it?"
"Unless it's a trap?" Gwen offered. "It wouldn't be the first time.
“Or hidden?" Ianto looked down at the ground and crouched down, shooing the rats away with the head of his torch. “It could just be camouflaged or something.” She ran his gloved fingers over the ground, cringing as he felt a rat brush against his hand. Finally, Ianto rested his hands on a slightly raised patch, and picked something up. "Bingo!"
"Remind me to take you next time I go on an Easter egg hunt." Gwen said, illuminating it with her torch.
“Is that it?” Jack asked, shining light onto it as he stood to face them.
“I think so.” Ianto took a closer look. “Although it doesn't fit to the mould of the others.”
“It doesn't look the same.” Jack took it and turned it over, dusting it off and inspecting it.
There was no denying that it was alien, but it didn't look like the others; where the first two devices were round in shape, this was square, and it was warm to the touch instead of cold like the others. The ridges were shallow, instead of deep, and the display showed no lights at all. He ran his fingers over the flat buttons and gazed up at Gwen and Ianto who looked a little nervous. He pushed the button in the centre of the device and jumped a little when it started to change shape, morphing from square to oblong with rounded edges. Another button appeared in the centre of a flashing green light.
“That's a little unusual,” Gwen said.
“Intriguing though, don't you think?” Jack pressed the new button and watched as two panels slid away, revealing two square holes. “Is that all it does?"
“Maybe the other two devices slot into it.” Ianto looked at the two other consoles, ran his fingers over the buttons and pressed them firmly. Two square tabs jolted out from the bottom of each device and Jack glared at them curiously.
“I wonder what they do.” Jack took them, slotting the tabs into the holes and waited for a moment. “Maybe it's alien Lego,” he chuckled.
“Don't say that, remember alien sudoku?” Gwen asked, “Remember that barrel of laughs?”
“Ahh, the Amok,” Ianto reminisced. “That's something I would rather sooner forget.
“Well it doesn't seem to do anything.” Jack looked at it again, focusing on one of the devices; it seemed to be melting. “Apart from melting."
Suddenly, the three devices started to burn and Jack let it fall from his hand, watching them as they merged into one object. A bright beam of white light shot out and hit the ceiling before engulfing the room, sucking in everything in sight.
Owen and Tosh felt the building shake and stepped away from a falling piece of debris.
"What the?" Owen held onto the wall he was standing beside.
Tosh felt the ground moving and lost her footing, banging her head on the hard stone wall as she fell.
"Are you okay?" Owen crouched down beside her.
"I think so."
"Come on." He helped her up and steadied her, putting his arm around her waist. "I think now would be a good time to get the hell out of here."
"Yeah."
PART 3