[fic] The Key - Jack/Ten/Ianto (prologue)
Title: The Key [prologue]
Rating: PG - R
Pairing: Jack/Ten/Ianto and pairings there of.
Warning: Spoilers from Series 2 on of Doctor Who and Series 1-2 of Torchwood, just to be safe. Un-beta'd.
Summary: An alien child falls on Jack out of thin air, the Doctor appears at Torchwood. What exactly is going on?
Notes: I've had this idea in my mind for a while, but never got it down on paper. I’m still working this story out, so input/con crit is always welcome.
Earth was about to end. Again. This time maybe for good. Daleks and Cybermen, warring with each other, tearing space and time apart. The Doctor ran through the hallways of Torchwood at top speed, racing through the destruction and mayhem as he tried to save what was left of the planet.
It was something small, minute as a fly hitting a windshield, that has him skidding to a stop, heels digging into the floor as he slipped slightly on the tiles, falling to his rear just as a boy sped across his path, running almost as fast as he had been just seconds ago. The Doctor felt the entirety of time and space converge and slide abnormally around him as the boy, dressed in a suit and most definitely a worker here in Torchwood, rounded the corner and vanished out of sight. The Doctor blinked, the disturbance enough to have his head buzzing away from what he was supposed to be doing to this new, much more interesting--and not to mention safe--enigma. What seemed like a mere human had time and space wrapping around him, like a cocoon, waiting for a certain point or event to trigger an evolution that would probably change the boy for good. It was all too interesting to keep at this riddle, a proverbial Rubric cube for his mind--something that didn't happen very often, since he was rather clever and not many things could confuse him as much as this did. Space and time didn’t work like that, not as a barrier or mantle, like it was for this boy. The only things in the universe that could handle space and time like that were…
An explosion rocked the building, jostling the Doctor back into action and the matter at hand. Later, he would have to investigate this mystery. After, of course, he saved Earth. Again.
***
Ianto sighed, fumbling with his keys in one hand as he rubbed a sore shoulder with the other. The day had been more than exhausting. Two people down and the sorrow of losing them still painfully there. The world still turned and the aliens kept on coming. Daleks, Weevils, all sorts of things kept on cropping up and Ianto felt as if he hadn't had more than an hour of sleep in the last month. Jack had finally permitted them rest after Gwen complained that she hadn't seen Rhys in weeks. Ianto envied her in some ways. A normal life outside of Torchwood was something to kill for.
He pulled at his tie and started undoing his suit cuffs, planning to lounge and maybe get a short nap before being summoned to the hub once again. Jack might have let Gwen off for the week, but Ianto knew he wasn’t going to be so lucky.
A ruffle of clothing not his own made Ianto realize quite suddenly, that he wasn't alone.
It was by an instinct drilled into him that his hand goes to his side, feeling for the gun that was usually strapped there. After becoming more active on the field, Jack insisted that he had one on his person at all times. But this was his private time and he'd left it back at the hub. Eying the umbrella rack he reached slowly over to take the handle into his hand, hoping that his body was blocking his actions from the intruder.
Counting to three in his head, he whipped the umbrella out of the holder and turned around swiftly; pointing it toward the intruder in what he hoped would be a menacing stance.
His eyes widened and the umbrella fell uselessly to the side as he recognized the figure sitting on his couch to be the face of the man he’d seen so many times on a screen and never in real life.
The Doctor.
***
Captain Jack Harkness didn't hate children. In fact, he rather liked them, as long as he wasn't the one bearing them. Stretch marks were hard to get rid of, even on a Time Agent’s salary. But it was one thing to like children and an entirely different one to like children that fall from out of the blue, breaking his spine in half and sending him hurdling into the darkness of death.
It was supposed to be a short mission. Grab a weevil or two, wait for the team to recover from their month of hell, and then bring them back in to repeat it. The rift had been especially difficult lately, though Jack wasn’t sure if that was because of the Dalek invasion or something else.
He’d been on the trail of the Weevil for close to a hour now and capture was nigh but a finger tip away. Five more minutes and he would have been driving back for a break of his own. Those plans were knocked out of him as what seemed like a ton of bricks dropped out of nowhere. He barrelled back into the living with a gasped breath, feeling his spine realign beneath the weight still sitting on his back. "Moving off would help you know.." Jack growled in irritation, his head twisting to see what had dropped on him.
A child little more than five hopped off his back, allowing Jack to straighten and stand. The girl--or what seemed like a girl, never knew with aliens--looked blankly up at him with almond eyes that glowed emerald in the dark streets. “You look human, but…” Jack looked around. No buildings, so definitely out of thin air. "Not from around here, I'm guessing." The statement was greeted with silence. Jack sighed. Great.
"Look, I have to go catch a bad alien. If you have no plans to take over the world, I suggest you stay out of my way." Jack turned away with all intentions of leaving the girl behind, not expecting the tug at his coat. He looked down, a frown on his face as the child looked up at him unemotionally, a hand curled into the thick material of his coat. Her own clothing looked out-of-place, the frilly dress reminding Jack of one of those Victorian dolls. Raven dark hair was tied back in a neat bow, accenting unnatural moonlight white skin. Definitely not human.
"I'm not taking you with me unless you intend to do some talking." The girl's mouth stayed shut. He moved to tug himself away, but the girl hung on. A small tug war ensued until Jack finally relented. "Fine, you can come with me. But you're staying in the cells." It looked like the night just got longer.
Rating: PG - R
Pairing: Jack/Ten/Ianto and pairings there of.
Warning: Spoilers from Series 2 on of Doctor Who and Series 1-2 of Torchwood, just to be safe. Un-beta'd.
Summary: An alien child falls on Jack out of thin air, the Doctor appears at Torchwood. What exactly is going on?
Notes: I've had this idea in my mind for a while, but never got it down on paper. I’m still working this story out, so input/con crit is always welcome.
Earth was about to end. Again. This time maybe for good. Daleks and Cybermen, warring with each other, tearing space and time apart. The Doctor ran through the hallways of Torchwood at top speed, racing through the destruction and mayhem as he tried to save what was left of the planet.
It was something small, minute as a fly hitting a windshield, that has him skidding to a stop, heels digging into the floor as he slipped slightly on the tiles, falling to his rear just as a boy sped across his path, running almost as fast as he had been just seconds ago. The Doctor felt the entirety of time and space converge and slide abnormally around him as the boy, dressed in a suit and most definitely a worker here in Torchwood, rounded the corner and vanished out of sight. The Doctor blinked, the disturbance enough to have his head buzzing away from what he was supposed to be doing to this new, much more interesting--and not to mention safe--enigma. What seemed like a mere human had time and space wrapping around him, like a cocoon, waiting for a certain point or event to trigger an evolution that would probably change the boy for good. It was all too interesting to keep at this riddle, a proverbial Rubric cube for his mind--something that didn't happen very often, since he was rather clever and not many things could confuse him as much as this did. Space and time didn’t work like that, not as a barrier or mantle, like it was for this boy. The only things in the universe that could handle space and time like that were…
An explosion rocked the building, jostling the Doctor back into action and the matter at hand. Later, he would have to investigate this mystery. After, of course, he saved Earth. Again.
***
Ianto sighed, fumbling with his keys in one hand as he rubbed a sore shoulder with the other. The day had been more than exhausting. Two people down and the sorrow of losing them still painfully there. The world still turned and the aliens kept on coming. Daleks, Weevils, all sorts of things kept on cropping up and Ianto felt as if he hadn't had more than an hour of sleep in the last month. Jack had finally permitted them rest after Gwen complained that she hadn't seen Rhys in weeks. Ianto envied her in some ways. A normal life outside of Torchwood was something to kill for.
He pulled at his tie and started undoing his suit cuffs, planning to lounge and maybe get a short nap before being summoned to the hub once again. Jack might have let Gwen off for the week, but Ianto knew he wasn’t going to be so lucky.
A ruffle of clothing not his own made Ianto realize quite suddenly, that he wasn't alone.
It was by an instinct drilled into him that his hand goes to his side, feeling for the gun that was usually strapped there. After becoming more active on the field, Jack insisted that he had one on his person at all times. But this was his private time and he'd left it back at the hub. Eying the umbrella rack he reached slowly over to take the handle into his hand, hoping that his body was blocking his actions from the intruder.
Counting to three in his head, he whipped the umbrella out of the holder and turned around swiftly; pointing it toward the intruder in what he hoped would be a menacing stance.
His eyes widened and the umbrella fell uselessly to the side as he recognized the figure sitting on his couch to be the face of the man he’d seen so many times on a screen and never in real life.
The Doctor.
***
Captain Jack Harkness didn't hate children. In fact, he rather liked them, as long as he wasn't the one bearing them. Stretch marks were hard to get rid of, even on a Time Agent’s salary. But it was one thing to like children and an entirely different one to like children that fall from out of the blue, breaking his spine in half and sending him hurdling into the darkness of death.
It was supposed to be a short mission. Grab a weevil or two, wait for the team to recover from their month of hell, and then bring them back in to repeat it. The rift had been especially difficult lately, though Jack wasn’t sure if that was because of the Dalek invasion or something else.
He’d been on the trail of the Weevil for close to a hour now and capture was nigh but a finger tip away. Five more minutes and he would have been driving back for a break of his own. Those plans were knocked out of him as what seemed like a ton of bricks dropped out of nowhere. He barrelled back into the living with a gasped breath, feeling his spine realign beneath the weight still sitting on his back. "Moving off would help you know.." Jack growled in irritation, his head twisting to see what had dropped on him.
A child little more than five hopped off his back, allowing Jack to straighten and stand. The girl--or what seemed like a girl, never knew with aliens--looked blankly up at him with almond eyes that glowed emerald in the dark streets. “You look human, but…” Jack looked around. No buildings, so definitely out of thin air. "Not from around here, I'm guessing." The statement was greeted with silence. Jack sighed. Great.
"Look, I have to go catch a bad alien. If you have no plans to take over the world, I suggest you stay out of my way." Jack turned away with all intentions of leaving the girl behind, not expecting the tug at his coat. He looked down, a frown on his face as the child looked up at him unemotionally, a hand curled into the thick material of his coat. Her own clothing looked out-of-place, the frilly dress reminding Jack of one of those Victorian dolls. Raven dark hair was tied back in a neat bow, accenting unnatural moonlight white skin. Definitely not human.
"I'm not taking you with me unless you intend to do some talking." The girl's mouth stayed shut. He moved to tug himself away, but the girl hung on. A small tug war ensued until Jack finally relented. "Fine, you can come with me. But you're staying in the cells." It looked like the night just got longer.