Changes
Title: Changes
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who/Anita Blake
Series: Cardiff By Night (Don't ask, it's new)
Characters/Pairings: Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Lacey Harkness, Meredith Harkness, Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper-Williams, Chance Harper, Kaiya Harper, Tavish Harkness Tosh/Owen/Lacey, Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys
Summary: There's a reason Owen always warned her not to roughhouse with her sister when she was shifted.
Notes: Ok, this is a new series my friends and I came up with on a whim and it devolved from there. Playing fast and loose with a few canons here, but the rules are mostly the same. In this setting, Meredith was bitten and changed by a Werewolf, during the year that never was. Lacey was aboard the Valiant as a 'guest' of the Master, and thus she had regenerated and it stuck. It's been a few years since those events. Lacey and Owen have a son, Chance, and Owen and Tosh have a daughter, Kaiya. This is also written for the hc_bingo I'm using it for my Wild Card Space, the Prompt being: Werewolves: First transformation/Bite.
Jack looked out from his office. It was early. Normally the team wouldn’t even be in this early, but there’d been a spaceship crash and they’d been called to investigate. Gwen was needed for her psychic abilities and there were injuries so Owen was called in. In fact, the only member of the team not in was Jack’s daughter Lacey, who stayed behind with the children. He’d called Lacey to tell her she didn’t need to come in until the twins were off to school and the toddlers off to day care. So he looked up in surprise when the cog wheel turned and Lacey came running in.
Tosh looked over from her workstation when Lacey ran in. “Lacey? I thought you were with the kids.”
“Huh? Oh, ugh, I dropped them off with Rhys,” she said idly, sounding distracted. “He can drop them off before his shift starts.” She waved off any other questions before practically jumping down into the medical bay. “Owen!”
Owen looked up from a test he’d been running for Jack when Lacey called his name. “Oh boy, you’re wearing that I’m in deep shit look. What’s wrong?”
“We have a problem. A big BIG problem.”
“You’re pregnant?” Owen asked, raising an eyebrow. That had been the last time he’d seen her this nervous.
“Nope. Bigger.”
“You’ve fallen in love with someone else and want to bring them into the relationship.” He chuckled when she dopesmacked him. “Well then, how about you just tell me what’s wrong? It’s not like you were bitten by a werewolf or anything.” He teased, frowning when she suddenly looked very sheepish. “Lacey?”
“Well, Mere and I were roughhousing....”
Owen sighed, facepalming slightly. “What have I told you about roughhousing with the girl when she’s shifted?”
“We were playing with your shoes and it devolved into a tickle fight and...”
“Oi! Not with my shoes again.” Owen said, pointing. “I told you, stop giving her my shoes for chew toys.”
“Owen, can we worry about your footwear later?” She growled in an almost animalistic way. She slapped her hand over her mouth at the sound, giving Owen a slightly panicked look.
“All right, normally I would find that just a bit sexy and kinky, but right now? Exam table.” He pointed. “And take the coat off, I can’t see the wound if you’re trying to hide it.”
“Can you lower your voice,” she said as she shucked off the coat and hopped up on the table. “I really don’t need Dad overhearing this.”
“Overhearing what?”
“Nothing!” Lacey said automatically, looking up at Jack as he stood by the rails that looked over into the Med bay.
“Mere bit her when they were roughhousing with one of my shoes.” Owen said without looking up from what he was doing. He took the Time Lord’s arm, and whistled lowly. “She gave you a nasty one, Lace.”
“Can you tell if she’s infected?”
“Not for another week, no full moon. Going to give her the inoculation, if she wants it, and we’ll go from there.” He looked at her. “You realize this means cell time.”
“Yeah, doesn’t mean I have to like it. Just clean it, give me the damn shot and let me go lay down, that shit always gives me a bloody headache.” She grumbled.
“Oh, come on, you know we always put your favorite pillow and stuffed animals in there.” He teased.
“I should bite you, then you can join me in there. Ow!” She muttered as he started cleaning her arm, maybe just a bit more roughly than was strictly necessary. “God, teasing, ease up. Besides, it can’t spread in human form, you’re a doctor, Owen, you should know this.”
It was short work to clean and bandage the arm. “At least she didn’t get too deep. No muscle damage.” He’d seen what a strong were bite could do to muscle and tissue. He looked at the vaccine, tapping a finger against the counter for a few minutes before grabbing another vial they had on hand, and mixing the two together.
“What are you doing?” Lacey asked, swinging her legs slightly.
“Hopefully giving the vaccine an added boost so that you won’t get infected.” He said. “Hold out your arm.”
“Really need to find a better means of delivering the vaccine than shots,” she muttered, but held out her arm. She yelped slightly as he quickly injected her. “God that stings.”
He stuck a plaster over the injections site, “All right, we’ve done what we can. We’ll know in about a week whether the vaccine worked this time.” He helped her off the exam table. “Go on, sleep off the headache you’re gonna get on the sofa. We’ll wake you if there’s a crisis.”
Lacey slept most of the morning, which actually worried Owen more than the bite. Usually after an inoculation, she was out for an hour or two, then griping the rest of the day about the soreness around the injection site. She woke up in time for lunch though, and acted fairly normal if a little spacey, so he brushed it aside as nothing more than over reaction.
By that evening though, once they were home, Owen started to worry about her again. The three got home and Lacey crashed out on the sofa, complaining of a headache and her arm being sore. He sat in one of the chairs next to the sofa, watching some TV. “She’s never reacted like this before.” He said, looking at Tosh.
Tosh knelt next to Lacey, feeling her forehead. “She’s feverish. Do you think the bite could have gotten infected?”
Owen shook his head. “No, it wasn’t infected when I looked at it, and I made sure to clean it out, just in case. Still,” he went over, taking Lacey’s arm gently, concerned that none of this had woke her up. Lacey had never really gotten over her time on the Valiant and was usually a very light sleeper, especially if she was just napping. That he and Tosh were able to have a full conversation without her so much as trying to shush them was unusual. He hissed slightly when he got a look at the wound. “It should have healed, at least a bit, even with her slowed rate of healing.”
“It won’t heal, not until her first shift.”
He looked up to see Meredith having walked out of her room, looking more than a little sheepish. “Are you sure she’s going to change?” He looked down at the wound again.
She nodded. “One, I can smell it,” she tapped her nose. “Two, the fever, the wound not healing, that’s all how I was until my first change.”
“So she’s going to be sick for the rest of the week until the full moon?” Tosh asked, stroking back a bit Lacey’s hair when she muttered in her sleep and tried to pull away from Owen.
Meredith shrugged. “She’ll probably feel achy, but otherwise normal the rest of the week, getting worse again the day of the full moon. It’s what happened to me.”
Tosh was about to add something when the toddlers started fussing in their room. “I’ll go see what they need,” she said, standing up.
Owen nodded, before nudging Lacey. “Hey, come on.” He said softly, knowing that startling her awake usually led to black eyes, “Lacey, we need to get you to bed and to take some fever reducer.” He really hoped Meredith was wrong and Lacey just happened to come down with an infection. She grumbled in her sleep and tried to slap him away. “Come on, sweetheart, don’t play like this, you hate sleeping the night on the sofa. It’s uncomfortable, you get cramps in your neck, and you know you never sleep well without me and Tosh, so come on, at least let me help you to the bed.”
She opened her eyes, blinking a few times in the light. “Guh, thirsty,” she said, sitting up. “and my arm still hurts.”
“Come on, it’s late, and you’re feverish. Let’s get you to bed, and I’ll get you some water.” Owen said, pulling her to her feet. “The bite went pretty deep, it might be a bit slow to heal.”
Lacey gave him a look. “I took care of Mere on the Valiant. I know what this could mean, don’t try to hide it Owen. Besides, you’re a lousy liar.”
“Could just be coincidence. Gwen did have that nasty cold a couple of weeks ago, you could have caught that.” Owen insisted. He helped her to their bedroom laying her down on the bed before heading to the kitchen. He came back with some medication and water. “Here, it will help with the fever.”
She took the pills, kicking off her shoes and socks, before curling up under the covers, shivering slightly. She felt the bed dip slightly as Owen sat down to take off his own shoes, and strip down for the night. “Where’s Tosh?”
“Checking on Chance and Kaiya, they were fussing over something. Chance probably got the best spot in the crib.” Owen said, smiling softly as he brushed some hair from her face.
“Takes after his father,” she murmured, the gentle caress lulling her back to sleep.
“Oi, I do not take the best spot on the bed.” Owen said. “If anything you and Tosh take most of the bed, and I’m left hanging on by my fingernails.”
“That’s only true in your own mind, Owen,” Tosh said, coming to join them in the bed. “Chance wanted milk and Kaiya decided she just had to use the potty, even though we’d taken them both before putting them to bed. They also send get well kisses for momma Lacey.” She said, placing two kisses on the woman’s cheek. “They missed you reading them their bedtime story.”
“I slept through bedtime? Why didn’t one of you wake me?” Lacey groaned, she loved reading to the two children.
“You wouldn’t wake up,” Tosh said, sounding slightly worried. “We decided you needed the sleep and they understood. They’re smart kids. They understand you won’t always be able to read to them.”
“I know, doesn’t mean I have to like that I wasn’t there to read to them.” She said, snuggling in between her two lovers, and falling asleep.
Tosh and Owen shared a look before falling asleep with her.
The next morning, Lacey didn’t even look sick. She had no fever, wasn’t in any pain and she insisted on going to work even though Owen and Tosh both thought it would have been better if she stayed home. Still, minus a few moments of true space out and some minor complaints about her bitten arm, she was normal. She even read to Chance and Kaiya an extra hour to make up for the night before.
The rest of the week passed similarly. Occasional complaints about the arm, and moments where she’d zone out, and while Tosh and Owen wanted to believe that she was going to get through this without a change, Meredith would insist that the first day of the full moon cycle she’d be sick again and that night she’d shift.
She was right. Owen woke that morning next to Lacey who seemingly overnight had her body temperature jump up two degrees. He looked over and Tosh had noticed too, the worry on her face evident. “Looks like we didn’t dodge it this time,” he whispered as Lacey whimpered in her sleep, pulling the arm that was bitten close. “Lacey, honey, wake up.” He said.
“I’ll get some Tylenol,” Tosh said, getting out of the bed and heading into the kitchen.
“Going to get worse,” Lacey muttered, opening her eyes, glassy with fever to look at Owen. “Mere got worse as the day went on, until that night.” She curled up tightly against Owen. “Scared.”
“It’s going to be ok.” Owen lied. “We’ll just get you into Torchwood, down in one of the cells. Tosh and I will be right outside the cell. We’re not going to leave you, ok?” He stroked her hair.
“He’s right,” Tosh said, handing the red head the medication and water. “we’ll get through this together, like we’ve gotten through everything.” Lacey nodded, letting the two help her up and to the Hub.
Jack took one look at her, and nodded. “We’ll get a cell set up for you, baby.” He kissed her forehead. “We’ll watch the kids tonight, unless you want us here.”
“Probably won’t be necessary, but it might help to have Gwen here.” Owen looked over at her. “You might be able to communicate with her. Lacey and Mere do it all the time when Mere’s in wolf form.”
“I’ll call Rhys, tell him I’m working late.”
Lacey laid on the sofa all day. She felt slightly better at lunch and was able to eat something at Owen and Tosh’s urging, but as the afternoon wore on, her arm started hurting worse and the fever returned. She barely touched her dinner, and they decided to go ahead and move Lacey into her cell while she could still walk mostly unaided. She paused outside the cell. “Meredith?”
“You stayed with me during my first change, and you weren’t even a werewolf. You risked becoming one then to protect me and help me.” She said quietly. “I can at least offer you the same. And none of that you could hurt me business. I’ve been doing this for three years including the year that never was.” She looked at her sister. ~Basically, I could kick your butt if you attacked me.~
~Not going to talk you out of this, am I?~
~Nope, get in here. I’m going to go ahead and shift. Maybe that will make it easier on you.~
“You know, I don’t care how long it is, those two and their silent conversations still weird me out.” Owen said as he and Tosh helped Lacey into the cell. Meredith shifted the minute the cell door closed, staying close to Lacey. “We’re right here, ok, Lace?”
“I’m sick and quite possibly turning into a werewolf, but I’m not blind.” She said to them, leaning against the wall, cradling her arm which was starting ache again. ~hey, maybe I’ll luck out and it’ll only make me sick.~
~Yeah, that’s what we thought about me, remember?~ Meredith pointed out, nuzzling Lacey with her nose. ~Trust me, you don’t want to go through this for three months only to change anyways~
“Oh come on,” she said aloud, “Let me have my delusion--Ah!” She cried, doubling over in pain as something snapped audibly.
“Lacey!” Tosh cried, Owen resting a hand on her shoulder. She was shocked at how loud it sounded. Meredith usually shifted quietly in her room and came padding out, already a dark colored wolf.
~It’ll get easier as time goes on,~ Meredith said, as Lacey screamed again with another snap in her body, the elder Time Lady falling to her side, curling up into a ball The clothes she hadn’t taken off shredded and fell away, blondish fur with ginger spots grew over her body as her head shifted and changed shape and her limbs rearranged from bipedal to quadrupedal. Her screams became less human and more animalistic yowls before she quieted and lay still. ~Big sister?~ Meredith asked.
“She doesn’t look like a wolf,” Tosh said, “She looks like a--”
“A Cheetah,” Owen confirmed as the cat shifted and looked at them. “She’s a werecheetah.” Lacey hissed at them, the hackles on her neck standing on end, before she smelled the raw meat left in the cell as her first meal, which she attacked with gusto. “oh gross, I think I’m going to be sick.”
“If it grosses you out Owen, don’t watch.” Tosh pointed out, who was decidedly not watching her eat. She leaned into Owen. “If she was bitten by Mere, why isn’t she a wolf?”
“It means Mere’s bite didn’t infect her.” Owen sighed. “It doesn’t always infect, but Lacey always insists on the vaccine, just in case. The vaccine is usually another strain, usually one of the felines since Wolves and rats are more common. So either Mere’s bite didn’t actually infect her, or the vaccine was strong enough to kill the wolf strain and override it.”
“Owen, don’t start that blaming yourself thing, or I will whack you with a newspaper.”
“What?” He gave Tosh an amused look.
“There we go, that’s a smile.” She said, giving him a hug.
He rolled his eyes but smiled as he returned it. ‘Sorry, just hard to smile when she’s...” They turned when they heard the wolf growl and the cat hiss. The cheetah that had been Lacey was trying to break out of the cell, and Meredith was trying to stop her. “Lacey,” Owen said, in a calm voice he reserved for trapped animals, people with guns, and scared children, “Lacey, it’s me. It’s Owen, and Tosh.” he pointed at her. They both jumped when she slammed against the cell door. “Christ I’m glad we decided to do it here and not at the house.”
She charged the glass again, this time Meredith intercepted and threw the larger but inexperienced cat against the wall, pinning her effectively. ~Big Sister, Stop! It’s me, Meredith. ~ She ducked out of the way of snapping jaws and growled at the cat. ~Stop this. You are Lacey Harkness. Jack Harkness is your father, Ianto Jones is your step dad. I’m your sister, Meredith Harkness, my Twin brother Tavish is with Dad and Tad and your son, Chance, and daughter, Kaiya. Focus on them, remember them. Remember reading to them every night, before going into your room with Owen and Tosh and that’s usually when Tavish and I decide it’s time to turn on our Ipods and do our homework.~
The Cheetah had stopped hissing and spitting, had almost relaxed and submitted with that last line got the wolf a glare and what had to be the equivalent of a raspberry. ~We gave you two rooms on the other side of the house, don’t start that. I think I’m ok now. Furry, but ok...can you get off me now~
Meredith gave what sounded like a chuckled and pushed back onto her hind-legs in a sitting position, letting Lacey get up and shake herself off. ~Try not to get overstressed these first few times. You’re gonna wake up sore as it is.~
~Christ if this is what you went through I’m sorry, but I’m glad you were just a pup. If you were as big as you are now, I’d be either dead, regenerated or a wolf...~ She seemed to notice something. ~Uhm, I’m a Cheetah.~
“Lacey?”
She turned to see Owen and Tosh and let out a happy little sound somewhere between a meow and a purr.
Owen stopped. “She’s gone from ferocious she Cheetah to playful kitten in thirty seconds.” He said, shaking his head as she pounced at the glass as if trying to get at them, not in an aggressive way like before, but the way a kitten who wants to be petted would.
“I think she’s a beautiful Cheetah.”
“I’m giving her five seconds before she’s on her back doing that pet my belly wiggle that Mere does when she wants a belly--” He shook his head as she started doing exactly that. “You’re smirking at me, aren’t you?” Lacey nodded. “You know Jack’s rules. All weres have to stay their first night in the cell.” He sighed when she gave him the cat eyes of doom. “We’ll move closer, will that be better?” She nodded again. The two moved closer as Lacey watched with yellow eyes. “Think catnip will work on her?” He whispered to Tosh.
~Oh har har, next you’ll threaten clockwork mice and feathers on strings.~ Lacey made a grumbling sound that seemed to be her laughter.
“You know, I just might now that you brought....” Owen trailed off when he realized he’d understood Lacey. “Tosh did you hear her?”
“Yeah, she was joking about mice and feathers.” Tosh seemed as shocked as Owen.
So did Lacey. ~You heard that?!~ She looked over at the dark wolf next to her. ~Can they hear you, Mere.~
~They never have before. Uncle Owen, you need odor eaters for your shoes.~ She thought.
“If Mere’s saying anything, sorry sweetheart, still don’t understand you.” Tosh said with a sympathetic smile.
~Probably for the best~ Lacey gave another rumbling laugh.
“She was making fun of my shoes again, wasn’t she?” Lacey nodded. Owen rolled his eyes, “Figures.”
“How are we able to understand you, Lacey?” Tosh asked, ignoring Owen’s grumbling remarks that his feet and therefore his shoes did not smell.
Lacey was quiet for a few moments, a thoughtful expression on her feline face. ~I bet it’s our bond. We’re soulbonded to each other. I never thought anything of it, because you two were humans. I mean, I was suprised it worked honestly.~
“Lacey, you’re babbling like your brother, point, get to it.” Owen said.
~In Gallifreyans, the souldbonding strengthens the telepathic link between the individuals. They can communicate over great distances with each other, know where the other was, if they were hurt. I should have figured out we could have done this. How many times have we been out in the field and knew exactly where each other were without seeing each other~
“Or that time when you were knocked unconscious and bleeding and I knew exactly where to find you?” Owen asked. Jack had questioned him about it, thinking it might have been some latent abilities starting to come through, but this made more sense. He could only do that with Tosh and Lacey.
~Yeah. We never tried to communicate like this because we never needed to. Now that it’s a necessity, it’s nice to know we can.~
“I should go let Gwen know she can go home to Rhys.” Tosh said with a smile, going over to the phone to call Gwen before returning in time to see Lacey and Meredith get into a game of chase. She glanced over at Owen, sitting there laughing at the girls, his cell phone out. “Are you taking pictures?”
“Figured Jack’s got the CCTV on, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few stills of this. They are kinda adorable right now.” he said, looking up at Tosh.
~You always think we’re adorable, you just don’t always say,~
“I do too say.” Owen said, snapping another picture. “What are we gonna tell Chance and Kaiya.”
~That once a month Momma Lacey and Auntie Meredith become a cheetah and a wolf, respectively and will be very good for horsey rides?~ Lacey suggested as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. ~Why lie to them, they’re smart kids, they’d figure it out. And they already know about Mere, hell they’ve grown up around Mere.~
“You know, I was thinking that you being a were would shut you up but you babble more it seems.”
~See if you get a treat when I return to human form, Owen.~
“One of these days, Owen, you’ll learn not to antagonize her.” Tosh said, leaning against him. he put an arm around her, both watching the wolf and the cheetah continue their merry game of chase and pounce, the yips and meows filling the cells. It was the lullaby the two fell asleep to.
It was just after dawn, and Owen shifted against Tosh, stretching as he woke up. He glanced in the cell, smiling softly. Mere was in the corner, already dressed, and dozing in that not quite almost fast asleep way. Lacey on the other hand, was out like a light in the middle of the cell, looking like all the world that she had collapsed mid run. She was still naked, snoring, and it looked like she was drooling. “Bonkers,” he said with a slight shake of his head. He shifted Tosh so that he could get up to open the doors.
“She’ll probably sleep the day away,” Jack said, coming up behind Owen, and startling the younger man. “Until she gets used to it, she’ll slip into a practical coma for anywhere from eight to twelve hours. considering this was her first ever change, and those are always traumatic, I’d say she might wake up just in time to shift again tonight.” He moved over to Meredith, nudging the girl. “Got school in an hour, Mere. Tavish brought you some fresh clothes.”
Meredith stretched and nodded. “Yes, Dad.” she stood. “Tad have breakfast for me?” The immortal nodded. She got up, and kissed both men on the cheek before giving Tosh a kiss and a hug and running up to main part of the Hub.
Tosh walked in the cell, looking down at Lacey as she slept like the dead that morning. “Should we take her home to sleep it off?”
“Would be for the best, I doubt the sofa in the hub would be very comfortable. Though you might want to bring her back to the Hub one more night, she did all right last night, but.”
“Best not expose Chance and Kaiya to her until we know how she reacts when not in a cell?” Owen supplied. Jack nodded, offering his coat to wrap the sleeping woman in til they could get her home. “Thanks,” Owen said as he worked her into the coat and picked her up. “How were the trouble makers anyways?”
“I don’t know where you get those two being trouble makers,” Jack said innocently.
“They’re pumped full of sugar as we speak.”
“Yep.” Jack said. “Go on home, the lot of ya, if we need you for any crisis we’ll call. Oh! one more thing,” he said, Owen pausing at the door leading out the cells, Tosh holding it open for him. “When she wakes up, let me know, I want to talk to her before her next shift tonight.” She’d figure out his secret soon enough anyways. Owen nodded, adjusting the girl in his arms and heading up to take her home.
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who/Anita Blake
Series: Cardiff By Night (Don't ask, it's new)
Characters/Pairings: Toshiko Sato, Owen Harper, Lacey Harkness, Meredith Harkness, Jack Harkness, Gwen Cooper-Williams, Chance Harper, Kaiya Harper, Tavish Harkness Tosh/Owen/Lacey, Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys
Summary: There's a reason Owen always warned her not to roughhouse with her sister when she was shifted.
Notes: Ok, this is a new series my friends and I came up with on a whim and it devolved from there. Playing fast and loose with a few canons here, but the rules are mostly the same. In this setting, Meredith was bitten and changed by a Werewolf, during the year that never was. Lacey was aboard the Valiant as a 'guest' of the Master, and thus she had regenerated and it stuck. It's been a few years since those events. Lacey and Owen have a son, Chance, and Owen and Tosh have a daughter, Kaiya. This is also written for the hc_bingo I'm using it for my Wild Card Space, the Prompt being: Werewolves: First transformation/Bite.
Jack looked out from his office. It was early. Normally the team wouldn’t even be in this early, but there’d been a spaceship crash and they’d been called to investigate. Gwen was needed for her psychic abilities and there were injuries so Owen was called in. In fact, the only member of the team not in was Jack’s daughter Lacey, who stayed behind with the children. He’d called Lacey to tell her she didn’t need to come in until the twins were off to school and the toddlers off to day care. So he looked up in surprise when the cog wheel turned and Lacey came running in.
Tosh looked over from her workstation when Lacey ran in. “Lacey? I thought you were with the kids.”
“Huh? Oh, ugh, I dropped them off with Rhys,” she said idly, sounding distracted. “He can drop them off before his shift starts.” She waved off any other questions before practically jumping down into the medical bay. “Owen!”
Owen looked up from a test he’d been running for Jack when Lacey called his name. “Oh boy, you’re wearing that I’m in deep shit look. What’s wrong?”
“We have a problem. A big BIG problem.”
“You’re pregnant?” Owen asked, raising an eyebrow. That had been the last time he’d seen her this nervous.
“Nope. Bigger.”
“You’ve fallen in love with someone else and want to bring them into the relationship.” He chuckled when she dopesmacked him. “Well then, how about you just tell me what’s wrong? It’s not like you were bitten by a werewolf or anything.” He teased, frowning when she suddenly looked very sheepish. “Lacey?”
“Well, Mere and I were roughhousing....”
Owen sighed, facepalming slightly. “What have I told you about roughhousing with the girl when she’s shifted?”
“We were playing with your shoes and it devolved into a tickle fight and...”
“Oi! Not with my shoes again.” Owen said, pointing. “I told you, stop giving her my shoes for chew toys.”
“Owen, can we worry about your footwear later?” She growled in an almost animalistic way. She slapped her hand over her mouth at the sound, giving Owen a slightly panicked look.
“All right, normally I would find that just a bit sexy and kinky, but right now? Exam table.” He pointed. “And take the coat off, I can’t see the wound if you’re trying to hide it.”
“Can you lower your voice,” she said as she shucked off the coat and hopped up on the table. “I really don’t need Dad overhearing this.”
“Overhearing what?”
“Nothing!” Lacey said automatically, looking up at Jack as he stood by the rails that looked over into the Med bay.
“Mere bit her when they were roughhousing with one of my shoes.” Owen said without looking up from what he was doing. He took the Time Lord’s arm, and whistled lowly. “She gave you a nasty one, Lace.”
“Can you tell if she’s infected?”
“Not for another week, no full moon. Going to give her the inoculation, if she wants it, and we’ll go from there.” He looked at her. “You realize this means cell time.”
“Yeah, doesn’t mean I have to like it. Just clean it, give me the damn shot and let me go lay down, that shit always gives me a bloody headache.” She grumbled.
“Oh, come on, you know we always put your favorite pillow and stuffed animals in there.” He teased.
“I should bite you, then you can join me in there. Ow!” She muttered as he started cleaning her arm, maybe just a bit more roughly than was strictly necessary. “God, teasing, ease up. Besides, it can’t spread in human form, you’re a doctor, Owen, you should know this.”
It was short work to clean and bandage the arm. “At least she didn’t get too deep. No muscle damage.” He’d seen what a strong were bite could do to muscle and tissue. He looked at the vaccine, tapping a finger against the counter for a few minutes before grabbing another vial they had on hand, and mixing the two together.
“What are you doing?” Lacey asked, swinging her legs slightly.
“Hopefully giving the vaccine an added boost so that you won’t get infected.” He said. “Hold out your arm.”
“Really need to find a better means of delivering the vaccine than shots,” she muttered, but held out her arm. She yelped slightly as he quickly injected her. “God that stings.”
He stuck a plaster over the injections site, “All right, we’ve done what we can. We’ll know in about a week whether the vaccine worked this time.” He helped her off the exam table. “Go on, sleep off the headache you’re gonna get on the sofa. We’ll wake you if there’s a crisis.”
Lacey slept most of the morning, which actually worried Owen more than the bite. Usually after an inoculation, she was out for an hour or two, then griping the rest of the day about the soreness around the injection site. She woke up in time for lunch though, and acted fairly normal if a little spacey, so he brushed it aside as nothing more than over reaction.
By that evening though, once they were home, Owen started to worry about her again. The three got home and Lacey crashed out on the sofa, complaining of a headache and her arm being sore. He sat in one of the chairs next to the sofa, watching some TV. “She’s never reacted like this before.” He said, looking at Tosh.
Tosh knelt next to Lacey, feeling her forehead. “She’s feverish. Do you think the bite could have gotten infected?”
Owen shook his head. “No, it wasn’t infected when I looked at it, and I made sure to clean it out, just in case. Still,” he went over, taking Lacey’s arm gently, concerned that none of this had woke her up. Lacey had never really gotten over her time on the Valiant and was usually a very light sleeper, especially if she was just napping. That he and Tosh were able to have a full conversation without her so much as trying to shush them was unusual. He hissed slightly when he got a look at the wound. “It should have healed, at least a bit, even with her slowed rate of healing.”
“It won’t heal, not until her first shift.”
He looked up to see Meredith having walked out of her room, looking more than a little sheepish. “Are you sure she’s going to change?” He looked down at the wound again.
She nodded. “One, I can smell it,” she tapped her nose. “Two, the fever, the wound not healing, that’s all how I was until my first change.”
“So she’s going to be sick for the rest of the week until the full moon?” Tosh asked, stroking back a bit Lacey’s hair when she muttered in her sleep and tried to pull away from Owen.
Meredith shrugged. “She’ll probably feel achy, but otherwise normal the rest of the week, getting worse again the day of the full moon. It’s what happened to me.”
Tosh was about to add something when the toddlers started fussing in their room. “I’ll go see what they need,” she said, standing up.
Owen nodded, before nudging Lacey. “Hey, come on.” He said softly, knowing that startling her awake usually led to black eyes, “Lacey, we need to get you to bed and to take some fever reducer.” He really hoped Meredith was wrong and Lacey just happened to come down with an infection. She grumbled in her sleep and tried to slap him away. “Come on, sweetheart, don’t play like this, you hate sleeping the night on the sofa. It’s uncomfortable, you get cramps in your neck, and you know you never sleep well without me and Tosh, so come on, at least let me help you to the bed.”
She opened her eyes, blinking a few times in the light. “Guh, thirsty,” she said, sitting up. “and my arm still hurts.”
“Come on, it’s late, and you’re feverish. Let’s get you to bed, and I’ll get you some water.” Owen said, pulling her to her feet. “The bite went pretty deep, it might be a bit slow to heal.”
Lacey gave him a look. “I took care of Mere on the Valiant. I know what this could mean, don’t try to hide it Owen. Besides, you’re a lousy liar.”
“Could just be coincidence. Gwen did have that nasty cold a couple of weeks ago, you could have caught that.” Owen insisted. He helped her to their bedroom laying her down on the bed before heading to the kitchen. He came back with some medication and water. “Here, it will help with the fever.”
She took the pills, kicking off her shoes and socks, before curling up under the covers, shivering slightly. She felt the bed dip slightly as Owen sat down to take off his own shoes, and strip down for the night. “Where’s Tosh?”
“Checking on Chance and Kaiya, they were fussing over something. Chance probably got the best spot in the crib.” Owen said, smiling softly as he brushed some hair from her face.
“Takes after his father,” she murmured, the gentle caress lulling her back to sleep.
“Oi, I do not take the best spot on the bed.” Owen said. “If anything you and Tosh take most of the bed, and I’m left hanging on by my fingernails.”
“That’s only true in your own mind, Owen,” Tosh said, coming to join them in the bed. “Chance wanted milk and Kaiya decided she just had to use the potty, even though we’d taken them both before putting them to bed. They also send get well kisses for momma Lacey.” She said, placing two kisses on the woman’s cheek. “They missed you reading them their bedtime story.”
“I slept through bedtime? Why didn’t one of you wake me?” Lacey groaned, she loved reading to the two children.
“You wouldn’t wake up,” Tosh said, sounding slightly worried. “We decided you needed the sleep and they understood. They’re smart kids. They understand you won’t always be able to read to them.”
“I know, doesn’t mean I have to like that I wasn’t there to read to them.” She said, snuggling in between her two lovers, and falling asleep.
Tosh and Owen shared a look before falling asleep with her.
The next morning, Lacey didn’t even look sick. She had no fever, wasn’t in any pain and she insisted on going to work even though Owen and Tosh both thought it would have been better if she stayed home. Still, minus a few moments of true space out and some minor complaints about her bitten arm, she was normal. She even read to Chance and Kaiya an extra hour to make up for the night before.
The rest of the week passed similarly. Occasional complaints about the arm, and moments where she’d zone out, and while Tosh and Owen wanted to believe that she was going to get through this without a change, Meredith would insist that the first day of the full moon cycle she’d be sick again and that night she’d shift.
She was right. Owen woke that morning next to Lacey who seemingly overnight had her body temperature jump up two degrees. He looked over and Tosh had noticed too, the worry on her face evident. “Looks like we didn’t dodge it this time,” he whispered as Lacey whimpered in her sleep, pulling the arm that was bitten close. “Lacey, honey, wake up.” He said.
“I’ll get some Tylenol,” Tosh said, getting out of the bed and heading into the kitchen.
“Going to get worse,” Lacey muttered, opening her eyes, glassy with fever to look at Owen. “Mere got worse as the day went on, until that night.” She curled up tightly against Owen. “Scared.”
“It’s going to be ok.” Owen lied. “We’ll just get you into Torchwood, down in one of the cells. Tosh and I will be right outside the cell. We’re not going to leave you, ok?” He stroked her hair.
“He’s right,” Tosh said, handing the red head the medication and water. “we’ll get through this together, like we’ve gotten through everything.” Lacey nodded, letting the two help her up and to the Hub.
Jack took one look at her, and nodded. “We’ll get a cell set up for you, baby.” He kissed her forehead. “We’ll watch the kids tonight, unless you want us here.”
“Probably won’t be necessary, but it might help to have Gwen here.” Owen looked over at her. “You might be able to communicate with her. Lacey and Mere do it all the time when Mere’s in wolf form.”
“I’ll call Rhys, tell him I’m working late.”
Lacey laid on the sofa all day. She felt slightly better at lunch and was able to eat something at Owen and Tosh’s urging, but as the afternoon wore on, her arm started hurting worse and the fever returned. She barely touched her dinner, and they decided to go ahead and move Lacey into her cell while she could still walk mostly unaided. She paused outside the cell. “Meredith?”
“You stayed with me during my first change, and you weren’t even a werewolf. You risked becoming one then to protect me and help me.” She said quietly. “I can at least offer you the same. And none of that you could hurt me business. I’ve been doing this for three years including the year that never was.” She looked at her sister. ~Basically, I could kick your butt if you attacked me.~
~Not going to talk you out of this, am I?~
~Nope, get in here. I’m going to go ahead and shift. Maybe that will make it easier on you.~
“You know, I don’t care how long it is, those two and their silent conversations still weird me out.” Owen said as he and Tosh helped Lacey into the cell. Meredith shifted the minute the cell door closed, staying close to Lacey. “We’re right here, ok, Lace?”
“I’m sick and quite possibly turning into a werewolf, but I’m not blind.” She said to them, leaning against the wall, cradling her arm which was starting ache again. ~hey, maybe I’ll luck out and it’ll only make me sick.~
~Yeah, that’s what we thought about me, remember?~ Meredith pointed out, nuzzling Lacey with her nose. ~Trust me, you don’t want to go through this for three months only to change anyways~
“Oh come on,” she said aloud, “Let me have my delusion--Ah!” She cried, doubling over in pain as something snapped audibly.
“Lacey!” Tosh cried, Owen resting a hand on her shoulder. She was shocked at how loud it sounded. Meredith usually shifted quietly in her room and came padding out, already a dark colored wolf.
~It’ll get easier as time goes on,~ Meredith said, as Lacey screamed again with another snap in her body, the elder Time Lady falling to her side, curling up into a ball The clothes she hadn’t taken off shredded and fell away, blondish fur with ginger spots grew over her body as her head shifted and changed shape and her limbs rearranged from bipedal to quadrupedal. Her screams became less human and more animalistic yowls before she quieted and lay still. ~Big sister?~ Meredith asked.
“She doesn’t look like a wolf,” Tosh said, “She looks like a--”
“A Cheetah,” Owen confirmed as the cat shifted and looked at them. “She’s a werecheetah.” Lacey hissed at them, the hackles on her neck standing on end, before she smelled the raw meat left in the cell as her first meal, which she attacked with gusto. “oh gross, I think I’m going to be sick.”
“If it grosses you out Owen, don’t watch.” Tosh pointed out, who was decidedly not watching her eat. She leaned into Owen. “If she was bitten by Mere, why isn’t she a wolf?”
“It means Mere’s bite didn’t infect her.” Owen sighed. “It doesn’t always infect, but Lacey always insists on the vaccine, just in case. The vaccine is usually another strain, usually one of the felines since Wolves and rats are more common. So either Mere’s bite didn’t actually infect her, or the vaccine was strong enough to kill the wolf strain and override it.”
“Owen, don’t start that blaming yourself thing, or I will whack you with a newspaper.”
“What?” He gave Tosh an amused look.
“There we go, that’s a smile.” She said, giving him a hug.
He rolled his eyes but smiled as he returned it. ‘Sorry, just hard to smile when she’s...” They turned when they heard the wolf growl and the cat hiss. The cheetah that had been Lacey was trying to break out of the cell, and Meredith was trying to stop her. “Lacey,” Owen said, in a calm voice he reserved for trapped animals, people with guns, and scared children, “Lacey, it’s me. It’s Owen, and Tosh.” he pointed at her. They both jumped when she slammed against the cell door. “Christ I’m glad we decided to do it here and not at the house.”
She charged the glass again, this time Meredith intercepted and threw the larger but inexperienced cat against the wall, pinning her effectively. ~Big Sister, Stop! It’s me, Meredith. ~ She ducked out of the way of snapping jaws and growled at the cat. ~Stop this. You are Lacey Harkness. Jack Harkness is your father, Ianto Jones is your step dad. I’m your sister, Meredith Harkness, my Twin brother Tavish is with Dad and Tad and your son, Chance, and daughter, Kaiya. Focus on them, remember them. Remember reading to them every night, before going into your room with Owen and Tosh and that’s usually when Tavish and I decide it’s time to turn on our Ipods and do our homework.~
The Cheetah had stopped hissing and spitting, had almost relaxed and submitted with that last line got the wolf a glare and what had to be the equivalent of a raspberry. ~We gave you two rooms on the other side of the house, don’t start that. I think I’m ok now. Furry, but ok...can you get off me now~
Meredith gave what sounded like a chuckled and pushed back onto her hind-legs in a sitting position, letting Lacey get up and shake herself off. ~Try not to get overstressed these first few times. You’re gonna wake up sore as it is.~
~Christ if this is what you went through I’m sorry, but I’m glad you were just a pup. If you were as big as you are now, I’d be either dead, regenerated or a wolf...~ She seemed to notice something. ~Uhm, I’m a Cheetah.~
“Lacey?”
She turned to see Owen and Tosh and let out a happy little sound somewhere between a meow and a purr.
Owen stopped. “She’s gone from ferocious she Cheetah to playful kitten in thirty seconds.” He said, shaking his head as she pounced at the glass as if trying to get at them, not in an aggressive way like before, but the way a kitten who wants to be petted would.
“I think she’s a beautiful Cheetah.”
“I’m giving her five seconds before she’s on her back doing that pet my belly wiggle that Mere does when she wants a belly--” He shook his head as she started doing exactly that. “You’re smirking at me, aren’t you?” Lacey nodded. “You know Jack’s rules. All weres have to stay their first night in the cell.” He sighed when she gave him the cat eyes of doom. “We’ll move closer, will that be better?” She nodded again. The two moved closer as Lacey watched with yellow eyes. “Think catnip will work on her?” He whispered to Tosh.
~Oh har har, next you’ll threaten clockwork mice and feathers on strings.~ Lacey made a grumbling sound that seemed to be her laughter.
“You know, I just might now that you brought....” Owen trailed off when he realized he’d understood Lacey. “Tosh did you hear her?”
“Yeah, she was joking about mice and feathers.” Tosh seemed as shocked as Owen.
So did Lacey. ~You heard that?!~ She looked over at the dark wolf next to her. ~Can they hear you, Mere.~
~They never have before. Uncle Owen, you need odor eaters for your shoes.~ She thought.
“If Mere’s saying anything, sorry sweetheart, still don’t understand you.” Tosh said with a sympathetic smile.
~Probably for the best~ Lacey gave another rumbling laugh.
“She was making fun of my shoes again, wasn’t she?” Lacey nodded. Owen rolled his eyes, “Figures.”
“How are we able to understand you, Lacey?” Tosh asked, ignoring Owen’s grumbling remarks that his feet and therefore his shoes did not smell.
Lacey was quiet for a few moments, a thoughtful expression on her feline face. ~I bet it’s our bond. We’re soulbonded to each other. I never thought anything of it, because you two were humans. I mean, I was suprised it worked honestly.~
“Lacey, you’re babbling like your brother, point, get to it.” Owen said.
~In Gallifreyans, the souldbonding strengthens the telepathic link between the individuals. They can communicate over great distances with each other, know where the other was, if they were hurt. I should have figured out we could have done this. How many times have we been out in the field and knew exactly where each other were without seeing each other~
“Or that time when you were knocked unconscious and bleeding and I knew exactly where to find you?” Owen asked. Jack had questioned him about it, thinking it might have been some latent abilities starting to come through, but this made more sense. He could only do that with Tosh and Lacey.
~Yeah. We never tried to communicate like this because we never needed to. Now that it’s a necessity, it’s nice to know we can.~
“I should go let Gwen know she can go home to Rhys.” Tosh said with a smile, going over to the phone to call Gwen before returning in time to see Lacey and Meredith get into a game of chase. She glanced over at Owen, sitting there laughing at the girls, his cell phone out. “Are you taking pictures?”
“Figured Jack’s got the CCTV on, but it wouldn’t hurt to have a few stills of this. They are kinda adorable right now.” he said, looking up at Tosh.
~You always think we’re adorable, you just don’t always say,~
“I do too say.” Owen said, snapping another picture. “What are we gonna tell Chance and Kaiya.”
~That once a month Momma Lacey and Auntie Meredith become a cheetah and a wolf, respectively and will be very good for horsey rides?~ Lacey suggested as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. ~Why lie to them, they’re smart kids, they’d figure it out. And they already know about Mere, hell they’ve grown up around Mere.~
“You know, I was thinking that you being a were would shut you up but you babble more it seems.”
~See if you get a treat when I return to human form, Owen.~
“One of these days, Owen, you’ll learn not to antagonize her.” Tosh said, leaning against him. he put an arm around her, both watching the wolf and the cheetah continue their merry game of chase and pounce, the yips and meows filling the cells. It was the lullaby the two fell asleep to.
It was just after dawn, and Owen shifted against Tosh, stretching as he woke up. He glanced in the cell, smiling softly. Mere was in the corner, already dressed, and dozing in that not quite almost fast asleep way. Lacey on the other hand, was out like a light in the middle of the cell, looking like all the world that she had collapsed mid run. She was still naked, snoring, and it looked like she was drooling. “Bonkers,” he said with a slight shake of his head. He shifted Tosh so that he could get up to open the doors.
“She’ll probably sleep the day away,” Jack said, coming up behind Owen, and startling the younger man. “Until she gets used to it, she’ll slip into a practical coma for anywhere from eight to twelve hours. considering this was her first ever change, and those are always traumatic, I’d say she might wake up just in time to shift again tonight.” He moved over to Meredith, nudging the girl. “Got school in an hour, Mere. Tavish brought you some fresh clothes.”
Meredith stretched and nodded. “Yes, Dad.” she stood. “Tad have breakfast for me?” The immortal nodded. She got up, and kissed both men on the cheek before giving Tosh a kiss and a hug and running up to main part of the Hub.
Tosh walked in the cell, looking down at Lacey as she slept like the dead that morning. “Should we take her home to sleep it off?”
“Would be for the best, I doubt the sofa in the hub would be very comfortable. Though you might want to bring her back to the Hub one more night, she did all right last night, but.”
“Best not expose Chance and Kaiya to her until we know how she reacts when not in a cell?” Owen supplied. Jack nodded, offering his coat to wrap the sleeping woman in til they could get her home. “Thanks,” Owen said as he worked her into the coat and picked her up. “How were the trouble makers anyways?”
“I don’t know where you get those two being trouble makers,” Jack said innocently.
“They’re pumped full of sugar as we speak.”
“Yep.” Jack said. “Go on home, the lot of ya, if we need you for any crisis we’ll call. Oh! one more thing,” he said, Owen pausing at the door leading out the cells, Tosh holding it open for him. “When she wakes up, let me know, I want to talk to her before her next shift tonight.” She’d figure out his secret soon enough anyways. Owen nodded, adjusting the girl in his arms and heading up to take her home.