Primeval crossover fic - 04
PRIMEVAL CROSSOVER FIC 04
BY SOLEDAD
Author’s notes:
Chapter Four takes part during the Primeval episode 4.03.
There are some lines of dialogue that are taken from that episode. The rest is all mine. *g*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER FOUR
“No sign of incursion, or Mr Anderson,” One of the soldiers summarised the results of their search.
“So, where is he?” Abby asked, sounding frustrated. “Jess, anything?”
“I've checked the CCTV,” their field coordinator replied. “He hasn't left the theatre.”
“At least not through the door,” Jack said slowly.
Becker shook his head. “Forget it. He'd never go through. He knows the rules. No expeditions, no search parties, no rescue. Besides, if he's been dragged through by a creature, he's already dead.”
“You can’t be sure of that!” Abby argued. “We should at least keep the anomaly open for a while; give him the chance to return.
“You know it's the right thing to do,” Connor supported his girlfriend. “Come on, mate.”
Becker shook his head. “No, we keep searching the theatre.”
“You won’t find him here, you know that,” Jack said softly.
Becker nodded. “Of course I know. But what else can I do?”
“You can reopen the anomaly for him,” Abby said, and Connor was nodding eagerly.
Becker gave them an exasperated glare.
“Listen, you two, you can either stay here with Harkness, or you can search with me, but this,” he pointed at the anomaly, “stays locked.”
The two youngsters, however, weren’t about to give in just yet. They had balls; Jack had to give them that.
“Becker, mate, you can’t do this!” Connor protested. “You need to open it now. This is Matt we're talking about.”
“Exactly,” Becker returned coldly. “He knows the rules better than anyone. If he's gone through, it's on his own head.” He turned to leave. “I haven't finished searching. Harkness, keep an eye on them; see that they don’t do anything foolish. I’m not losing any more people due to stupid heroics.”
He stormed out to help his men searching the rest of the building. Connor glared after him angrily.
“I don't care about the rules. Just…”
“He’s right, though,” Jack pointed out gently, sympathising with the two young people but reluctant to let them take any unnecessary risks.
Abby gave him an angry, almost hurt look. “You don't know what it's like to be trapped out there, to be lost so far away.”
Jack reeled; it felt like a punch in the guts. All of a sudden, he was back on the Game Station, alone among all those dead people and Dalek dust. Compared with that, suffocating again and again in his lonely grave for two thousand years had almost been the lesser evil. Almost.
“Oh, believe me, I know exactly what it is like,” he said softly, that old pain palpable in his voice even for these kids who didn’t know him at all.
Then you know we can't just leave him there,” Connor insisted. “He's a human being, trapped, and we could help. We should help.”
Jack shook his head and sighed. “We can’t take the risk.”
“No one else goes through,” Abby suggested. “No search parties, no risks. If a creature comes out, we'll deal with it. But we have to open it. We've got to give Matt a chance.”
Jack hesitated. Disobeying a direct order on his first day on the job could get him in serious trouble; Becker had given him a fair warning. On the other hand, the thought to abandon Anderson as the Doctor had abandoned him went against every principle he believed in.
“Come on!” Connor urged, and Jack finally gave in.
“All right, let’s do it. But hurry up before Becker returns and throws my sorry arse in the brig.”
“Deal!” Connor grinned, manipulating the makeshift apparatus with practiced ease.
The anomaly reopened, spitting up a man carrying an unconscious woman in old-fashioned clothes on his arms. Hot on his heals a large, scaled creature with a disturbing amount of vicious fangs in its long snout appeared in the centre of the anomaly.
Lead by reflex more than by any conscious decision, Jack shot the oversized reptile straight in the chest. The impact threw it back into the anomaly, but he knew the result would be only temporary.
“Lock it!” he shouted at Connor and, to his credit, the young man acted with impressive speed. The anomaly shrank, and they looked at each other in relief.
The man who had just come through - presumably their team leader, Matt Anderson, to whom Jack had to be introduced yet - carefully laid the woman on the floor and looked up at them.
“Before you ask, I don't know. She just ran through.”
“And you followed her? “ Jack said, shaking his head.
On the one hand, that was what he would have done. On the other hand, it was a foolish risk, as Anderson couldn’t count on bouncing back from the death as he could.
Anderson shrugged. “What else could I have done?”
“I can think of a few things,” Jack replied. “Becker won’t be happy with you; with either of us.”
“Probably,” Anderson allowed. “Speaking of which: who the hell are you?”
“Captain Jack Harkness, Becker’s new second-in-command; at least I was until now,” Jack replied grimly. “I might get fired as soon as he learns that we reopened the anomaly for you.”
“No, you won’t; it isn’t his decision,” Anderson replied; then he held out his hand. “I’m Matt, by the way. Thanks for letting me escape.”
“Jack,” Jack shook the proffered hand. “You are welcome.”
“What was that thing?” Abby waved in the direction of the closed anomaly, meaning the reptile, of course.
Matt shrugged. “Some sort of arboreal raptor. A tree climber. Trust me; you don't want that thing coming through.”
Jack nodded; he could vividly imagine that. He looked down at the unconscious woman, at her odd clothes.
“We found another woman clad like this,” he said, “but she’s dead. Not a creature attack, though; she seems uninjured. Do you know what happened to her?”
Matt shook his head. “Not a clue,” he, too, looked down at the woman he’d just rescued. “We need to get her to hospital. And we need to inform Becker; I’m so not looking forward to that.”
Taking out his phone, he punched in a pre-programmed number. As he turned away to speak, the light from Abby’s torch fell on the side of his head and Jack stiffened. Behind Anderson’s left earlobe was a small tattoo; so small indeed that most people would mistake it for an oddly-shaped birthmark.
But Jack knew what it really was. He had one of those, too, after all. It was the ID symbol and service number of a Time Agent.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
At the same time in the ARC Tosh had finished the system check and went to find Philip. She found him in a neighbouring office, working on something she couldn’t identify at first sight.
“Mr Burton? All the systems are compliant. There are no glitches that I can see.”
Philip beamed at her. “Good news, Doctor Sato. And please call me Philip; everyone does.”
“Only if you call me Tosh,” she replied, smiling. His enthusiasm was really infectious.
He pulled a face. “That sounds a bit frivolous for somebody of your calibre. What about Toshiko?”
Tosh laughed. “Works for me. So, is there anything else I can do for you?”
“You could have dinner with me in the not-too-distant future,” he replied. “Right now, it would do if you could activate the scan and run a full test. Just to make sure everything works as it’s supposed to.”
“Sure,” Tosh nodded, mentally patting the little gizmo nicknamed the alien iPod in her bag. A full test run would be the golden opportunity to copy the entire program and study its specifics later, undisturbed - just in case she would need to hack it later.
She returned to the office where she’d been working and initiated the full test. Liking his little alien book scanner with Philip’s laptop, she started recording the specifics on the alarm system, withstanding the temptation to use the potential openings into Philip’s other databases the system offered.
She didn’t believe that the man - for all means and purposes a genius - would have forgotten how vulnerable giving her access to his laptop would make his entire system, at least to someone with her abilities. So this was most likely a test; one she would take with flying colours.
At least for now. She could always hack Prospero later, through Mainframe, or with the help of whatever powerful computer Jack - or Mr Holmes - might gain access to for her. For now, she was content to scan the entire building, learning its every nook and canny, saving that information to her alien iPod. Some day that data might come in handy.
Her thought process was interrupted by a strange, chirping noise that sounded like something between a raccoon and a frog. Her curiosity piqued - plus, knowing that unknown sounds could mean unknown dangers - she looked around for the source of the sound, and soon she spotted an adorable little creature, about as long as her arm. It looked vaguely like a flying dragon from the Southeast Asian region, but it had a cute little crest on its head and its wings reminded more those of a bat.
It tilted its head to the side, looked at Tosh with bright, curious eyes and chirped again, clearly unafraid of unknown humans. Perhaps it was used to human company. It even allowed Tosh to scratch the base of its crest.
“Who are you?” Tosh asked, petting the little creature; it was definitely something else than Myfanwy although, given the average mission of the ARC, perhaps of similar origins. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here, you know. I don’t think Mr Burton would like to have you around.”
The little lizard chirped and seemed almost amused. Tosh wondered briefly just how intelligent it might be. But she couldn’t keep playing with it because she heard approaching footsteps. For the lack of any better solution, she shoved it with her foot under the desk.
It was a last minute action, as in the next moment Philip entered the office. “How's it going?”
“Fine. I’ve got about half the ARC scanned so far,” Tosh tried her best to keep the little lizard under the desk with the help of her legs without making any suspicious moves. “It's all going like clockwork.”
“Great,” Philip grinned at her. “Send me a report when you’re done.”
“Of course,” Tosh replied to his retreating back and kept watching the continuous scan.
The little creature used the chance and slipped through between her legs, flying out of the room, heading for a nearby lab. Tosh was so focused on her work that she didn’t even notice.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To say that Becker was royally pissed with both Matt and Jack would have been an understatement. He was positively fuming; and he seemed angrier with Jack than with Matt - perhaps because subconsciously he considered Jack a threat.
“I’ve warned you, Harkness!” he said through gritted teeth. “But, of course, you wouldn’t listen. This won’t end here.”
Jack shrugged. “You’re welcome to get me fired. I haven’t asked for this assignment; I was drafted, and frankly, I’d be happy to leave. But if I am to stay here, you better get used to the fact that I do things my way.”
“We’ll see,” Becker pulled himself together with visible effort. “Connor, dismantle the equipment. Matt, Abby and you come with me. We’ll take this woman - and the dead one - to Bart’s. Harkness, stay here and secure the anomaly. I’ll leave two men with you, just in case. Come on.”
The rest of the ARC team obeyed without arguing. Even though Matt as team leader outranked Becker, the soldier was responsible for their safety, and in the field he had command. Going behind his back would have consequences, so it was better to do as he ordered.
Connor packed away the anomaly locking mechanism and left first. Soon thereafter an ambulance arrived, together with the coroner’s wagon and the two women, the dead and the living one, were taken to St Bartholomew’s Hospital. When everyone was gone, Jack called Ianto.
“Where are you?” he asked. “Can you come to the theatre in Cooper Street? I have the feeling that somebody - or something - is still here with us, but these guys are a bit narrow-minded.
“I’m just leaving Whitehall; had to run some errands for Mr Lester,” Ianto replied. “But I’m done now, and I have the car with me, so I can come and help you. Send the coordinates to my phone. Standard equipment?”
That, of course, meant Torchwood standard, which was by magnitudes better than anything the ARC could offer. Alien technology did have its advantages; so did having come from the distant future.
“Bring my Webley, too,” Jack said. “Frankly, I’d feel better if we had the Torchwood big gun with us. These EMDs are surprisingly efficient, but I’d prefer something with a much bigger calibre. Preferably something lethal. If one of those creatures I’ve just seen managed to slip through, then we have a problem.”
“Understood, sir. I’ll be there in twenty minutes, tops. With coffee.”
“Mr Jones, you are a jewel!” Jack grinned and hung up.
Then he readied his EMD and began his slow walk around the backstage area, looking out for anything suspicious.
He never noticed the long, prehensile, flecked tail descending from above directly behind his back.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
At St Bartholomew’s Hospital the unconscious woman was taken into a private room, with a guard placed in front of her door. She came to briefly, but Matt’s attempts to make her open up to him and get at least some information out of her proved futile.
“Let’s hope she’ll be more talkative once she’s rested a bit,” he said in a voice that revealed that he didn’t really believe it himself.
“Yeah, and pigs might fly,” Becker, still incredibly pissed with them all, muttered darkly.
Fortunately, before things could have turned really ugly between them, they were approached by a mousey, nervous-looking woman in a white lab coat. She was carrying a manila folder.
“Hi!” she said a little breathlessly. “Which one of you is Mr Anderson?”
“That would be me,” Matt said. “And you are…?”
“Molly Hooper,” she introduced herself. “I’m one of the pathologists here and have just finished the post-mortem of the woman you’ve brought in. I mean the one that was already dead, of course,” she giggled nervously.
Matt withstood the urge to roll his eyes… barely. She was a grown woman, for God’s sake, why couldn’t she behave like one?”
“What have you found, Doctor?”
The nervous little pathologist handed him the folder. “I was instructed to give you the file.”
“Instructed - by whom?” Becker asked, but she shook her head.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not authorised to tell you that. Everything you need to know is in there, though.” She waved at the folder and practically fled the room.
Connor stared after her in surprise. “What’s her problem?”
“Perhaps she’s just not used to people,” Abby suggested.
“Not living ones, you mean?” Connor deadpanned and was rewarded with a collective groan.
Matt opened the folder and studied the autopsy results with a frown. “That’s odd…”
“What does it say?” Abby intrigued.
Matt handed her the folder. “See for yourself.”
“Strange,” she commented after a quick glance. “According to this, the dead woman we found at the theatre died of an infection that antibiotics would have knocked out in days.”
“That's not all,” Becker peeked into the file over her shoulder. “She's showing antibodies for smallpox. How is that possible? She is - was - European, by the looks of her. She ought to have been vaccinated against the pox in early childhood.”
“When I followed her friend through the anomaly, she knew that world,” Matt said thoughtfully. “She knew how to handle those creatures.”
“You think she came from the anomaly?” Connor was the first to get the hit. “Cool!”
“I don't think either of them is actually from our time,” Matt replied simply.
“That makes sense,” Abby nodded. “Their clothes look as if they were at least two hundred years behind the current fashion… if not more.”
“So, what are we doing with her?” Connor asked. “Pushing her through the anomaly again? Cause that would be, like, cruel or whatnot.”
It was clearly meant as a joke, but Becker answered seriously. “I'm taking her into protective custody.”
“You're what?” Matt and Abby echoed in unison; but it was Matt whom Becker answered.
“As you said, she clearly isn't from our time. She could be infectious, hostile, psychotic…” the others tried to interrupt, but he wouldn’t let them. “No, we take her in, keep her secure and let the experts deal with her.”
“Hold on,” Matt said incredulously. “We are the experts. We can’t just lock her up like some wild animal. She's not a creature, she's a human being.”
“I didn't bring her here,” Becker returned coldly. “Whatever happens to her is not my responsibility.”
Matt glared at him with tightly controlled fury. “Well, in my judgement, we have to treat this with some sensitivity.”
He was clearly taking this personally - but so was Becker, by the sound of it.
“In your judgement!“ he echoed, his tone making glaringly obvious what he thought about the judgement of their team leader.
Matt was rapidly losing control. “Go on, why don't you just say it?”
“Fine!” Becker snapped. “You chasing her through the anomaly put everyone at risk. I've seen too many people die that way. Happy now?”
Before Becker could have replied, though, suddenly Jess’s voice sounded in their headsets.
“We have an incursion at the theatre. One man down. I repeat, we have an incursion.”
“Great. One man down,” Becker looked at Matt in open disgust. “Nice work.”
Then he touched his headset. “Jess, this is Becker. Do you know who’s it?”
“According to your men it is Captain Harkness,” Jess answered sorrowfully. “I’m really sorry.”
“Not your fault,” Becker replied. “It seems I won’t have to take the effort of getting used to having a second-in-command.”
He stormed off without a further word, ramming Matt with his shoulder on his way out rather brusquely.
Abby and Connor exchanged shocked looks. Somehow they had not expected the charismatic, larger-than-life captain to be killed so easily, on the very first day of his new job.
“Let’s go,” Connor then said, and Abby nodded in agreement.
“You stay here,” she said to Matt. “See what you can find out about the mystery woman. In one thing Becker was right: she is your responsibility.”
“And what will the two of you be doing?” Matt asked.
“Helping Becker,” Abby replied simply. “It’s what we do; what we’ve been doing for years.”
The unspoken addition unlike you hung between them like a sword. Ignoring him for the time being, the intrepid twosome ran off after Becker.
Matt sighed. Ever since Abby and Connor returned, he was feeling something of an outsider, outnumbered by the old ARC team four to one. Because Lester, too, clearly sided with them most of the time. Jess didn’t seem to face the same fate; but again, Abby and Connor lived with her, so they had probably become close in the recent weeks.
So far, old team and new leader had not come in conflict; this was the first time. He had the uncomfortable feeling that he might get marginalized if he wasn’t careful; and that would be dangerous, not only for his true mission but also for the ARC and its immediate purpose.
He shook his head ruefully and went to check on the mystery woman from the anomaly. To his shock, he found the door open and the guard who was supposed to stand in front of it being treated by the duty doctor, because of a bleeding head wound.
“Oh, great!” Matt groaned. “This day’s just getting better and better!
He ran out in search of the woman, wondering if Becker hadn’t been right about her, after all.
~TBC~
BY SOLEDAD
Author’s notes:
Chapter Four takes part during the Primeval episode 4.03.
There are some lines of dialogue that are taken from that episode. The rest is all mine. *g*
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER FOUR
“No sign of incursion, or Mr Anderson,” One of the soldiers summarised the results of their search.
“So, where is he?” Abby asked, sounding frustrated. “Jess, anything?”
“I've checked the CCTV,” their field coordinator replied. “He hasn't left the theatre.”
“At least not through the door,” Jack said slowly.
Becker shook his head. “Forget it. He'd never go through. He knows the rules. No expeditions, no search parties, no rescue. Besides, if he's been dragged through by a creature, he's already dead.”
“You can’t be sure of that!” Abby argued. “We should at least keep the anomaly open for a while; give him the chance to return.
“You know it's the right thing to do,” Connor supported his girlfriend. “Come on, mate.”
Becker shook his head. “No, we keep searching the theatre.”
“You won’t find him here, you know that,” Jack said softly.
Becker nodded. “Of course I know. But what else can I do?”
“You can reopen the anomaly for him,” Abby said, and Connor was nodding eagerly.
Becker gave them an exasperated glare.
“Listen, you two, you can either stay here with Harkness, or you can search with me, but this,” he pointed at the anomaly, “stays locked.”
The two youngsters, however, weren’t about to give in just yet. They had balls; Jack had to give them that.
“Becker, mate, you can’t do this!” Connor protested. “You need to open it now. This is Matt we're talking about.”
“Exactly,” Becker returned coldly. “He knows the rules better than anyone. If he's gone through, it's on his own head.” He turned to leave. “I haven't finished searching. Harkness, keep an eye on them; see that they don’t do anything foolish. I’m not losing any more people due to stupid heroics.”
He stormed out to help his men searching the rest of the building. Connor glared after him angrily.
“I don't care about the rules. Just…”
“He’s right, though,” Jack pointed out gently, sympathising with the two young people but reluctant to let them take any unnecessary risks.
Abby gave him an angry, almost hurt look. “You don't know what it's like to be trapped out there, to be lost so far away.”
Jack reeled; it felt like a punch in the guts. All of a sudden, he was back on the Game Station, alone among all those dead people and Dalek dust. Compared with that, suffocating again and again in his lonely grave for two thousand years had almost been the lesser evil. Almost.
“Oh, believe me, I know exactly what it is like,” he said softly, that old pain palpable in his voice even for these kids who didn’t know him at all.
Then you know we can't just leave him there,” Connor insisted. “He's a human being, trapped, and we could help. We should help.”
Jack shook his head and sighed. “We can’t take the risk.”
“No one else goes through,” Abby suggested. “No search parties, no risks. If a creature comes out, we'll deal with it. But we have to open it. We've got to give Matt a chance.”
Jack hesitated. Disobeying a direct order on his first day on the job could get him in serious trouble; Becker had given him a fair warning. On the other hand, the thought to abandon Anderson as the Doctor had abandoned him went against every principle he believed in.
“Come on!” Connor urged, and Jack finally gave in.
“All right, let’s do it. But hurry up before Becker returns and throws my sorry arse in the brig.”
“Deal!” Connor grinned, manipulating the makeshift apparatus with practiced ease.
The anomaly reopened, spitting up a man carrying an unconscious woman in old-fashioned clothes on his arms. Hot on his heals a large, scaled creature with a disturbing amount of vicious fangs in its long snout appeared in the centre of the anomaly.
Lead by reflex more than by any conscious decision, Jack shot the oversized reptile straight in the chest. The impact threw it back into the anomaly, but he knew the result would be only temporary.
“Lock it!” he shouted at Connor and, to his credit, the young man acted with impressive speed. The anomaly shrank, and they looked at each other in relief.
The man who had just come through - presumably their team leader, Matt Anderson, to whom Jack had to be introduced yet - carefully laid the woman on the floor and looked up at them.
“Before you ask, I don't know. She just ran through.”
“And you followed her? “ Jack said, shaking his head.
On the one hand, that was what he would have done. On the other hand, it was a foolish risk, as Anderson couldn’t count on bouncing back from the death as he could.
Anderson shrugged. “What else could I have done?”
“I can think of a few things,” Jack replied. “Becker won’t be happy with you; with either of us.”
“Probably,” Anderson allowed. “Speaking of which: who the hell are you?”
“Captain Jack Harkness, Becker’s new second-in-command; at least I was until now,” Jack replied grimly. “I might get fired as soon as he learns that we reopened the anomaly for you.”
“No, you won’t; it isn’t his decision,” Anderson replied; then he held out his hand. “I’m Matt, by the way. Thanks for letting me escape.”
“Jack,” Jack shook the proffered hand. “You are welcome.”
“What was that thing?” Abby waved in the direction of the closed anomaly, meaning the reptile, of course.
Matt shrugged. “Some sort of arboreal raptor. A tree climber. Trust me; you don't want that thing coming through.”
Jack nodded; he could vividly imagine that. He looked down at the unconscious woman, at her odd clothes.
“We found another woman clad like this,” he said, “but she’s dead. Not a creature attack, though; she seems uninjured. Do you know what happened to her?”
Matt shook his head. “Not a clue,” he, too, looked down at the woman he’d just rescued. “We need to get her to hospital. And we need to inform Becker; I’m so not looking forward to that.”
Taking out his phone, he punched in a pre-programmed number. As he turned away to speak, the light from Abby’s torch fell on the side of his head and Jack stiffened. Behind Anderson’s left earlobe was a small tattoo; so small indeed that most people would mistake it for an oddly-shaped birthmark.
But Jack knew what it really was. He had one of those, too, after all. It was the ID symbol and service number of a Time Agent.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
At the same time in the ARC Tosh had finished the system check and went to find Philip. She found him in a neighbouring office, working on something she couldn’t identify at first sight.
“Mr Burton? All the systems are compliant. There are no glitches that I can see.”
Philip beamed at her. “Good news, Doctor Sato. And please call me Philip; everyone does.”
“Only if you call me Tosh,” she replied, smiling. His enthusiasm was really infectious.
He pulled a face. “That sounds a bit frivolous for somebody of your calibre. What about Toshiko?”
Tosh laughed. “Works for me. So, is there anything else I can do for you?”
“You could have dinner with me in the not-too-distant future,” he replied. “Right now, it would do if you could activate the scan and run a full test. Just to make sure everything works as it’s supposed to.”
“Sure,” Tosh nodded, mentally patting the little gizmo nicknamed the alien iPod in her bag. A full test run would be the golden opportunity to copy the entire program and study its specifics later, undisturbed - just in case she would need to hack it later.
She returned to the office where she’d been working and initiated the full test. Liking his little alien book scanner with Philip’s laptop, she started recording the specifics on the alarm system, withstanding the temptation to use the potential openings into Philip’s other databases the system offered.
She didn’t believe that the man - for all means and purposes a genius - would have forgotten how vulnerable giving her access to his laptop would make his entire system, at least to someone with her abilities. So this was most likely a test; one she would take with flying colours.
At least for now. She could always hack Prospero later, through Mainframe, or with the help of whatever powerful computer Jack - or Mr Holmes - might gain access to for her. For now, she was content to scan the entire building, learning its every nook and canny, saving that information to her alien iPod. Some day that data might come in handy.
Her thought process was interrupted by a strange, chirping noise that sounded like something between a raccoon and a frog. Her curiosity piqued - plus, knowing that unknown sounds could mean unknown dangers - she looked around for the source of the sound, and soon she spotted an adorable little creature, about as long as her arm. It looked vaguely like a flying dragon from the Southeast Asian region, but it had a cute little crest on its head and its wings reminded more those of a bat.
It tilted its head to the side, looked at Tosh with bright, curious eyes and chirped again, clearly unafraid of unknown humans. Perhaps it was used to human company. It even allowed Tosh to scratch the base of its crest.
“Who are you?” Tosh asked, petting the little creature; it was definitely something else than Myfanwy although, given the average mission of the ARC, perhaps of similar origins. “What are you doing here? You shouldn’t be here, you know. I don’t think Mr Burton would like to have you around.”
The little lizard chirped and seemed almost amused. Tosh wondered briefly just how intelligent it might be. But she couldn’t keep playing with it because she heard approaching footsteps. For the lack of any better solution, she shoved it with her foot under the desk.
It was a last minute action, as in the next moment Philip entered the office. “How's it going?”
“Fine. I’ve got about half the ARC scanned so far,” Tosh tried her best to keep the little lizard under the desk with the help of her legs without making any suspicious moves. “It's all going like clockwork.”
“Great,” Philip grinned at her. “Send me a report when you’re done.”
“Of course,” Tosh replied to his retreating back and kept watching the continuous scan.
The little creature used the chance and slipped through between her legs, flying out of the room, heading for a nearby lab. Tosh was so focused on her work that she didn’t even notice.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
To say that Becker was royally pissed with both Matt and Jack would have been an understatement. He was positively fuming; and he seemed angrier with Jack than with Matt - perhaps because subconsciously he considered Jack a threat.
“I’ve warned you, Harkness!” he said through gritted teeth. “But, of course, you wouldn’t listen. This won’t end here.”
Jack shrugged. “You’re welcome to get me fired. I haven’t asked for this assignment; I was drafted, and frankly, I’d be happy to leave. But if I am to stay here, you better get used to the fact that I do things my way.”
“We’ll see,” Becker pulled himself together with visible effort. “Connor, dismantle the equipment. Matt, Abby and you come with me. We’ll take this woman - and the dead one - to Bart’s. Harkness, stay here and secure the anomaly. I’ll leave two men with you, just in case. Come on.”
The rest of the ARC team obeyed without arguing. Even though Matt as team leader outranked Becker, the soldier was responsible for their safety, and in the field he had command. Going behind his back would have consequences, so it was better to do as he ordered.
Connor packed away the anomaly locking mechanism and left first. Soon thereafter an ambulance arrived, together with the coroner’s wagon and the two women, the dead and the living one, were taken to St Bartholomew’s Hospital. When everyone was gone, Jack called Ianto.
“Where are you?” he asked. “Can you come to the theatre in Cooper Street? I have the feeling that somebody - or something - is still here with us, but these guys are a bit narrow-minded.
“I’m just leaving Whitehall; had to run some errands for Mr Lester,” Ianto replied. “But I’m done now, and I have the car with me, so I can come and help you. Send the coordinates to my phone. Standard equipment?”
That, of course, meant Torchwood standard, which was by magnitudes better than anything the ARC could offer. Alien technology did have its advantages; so did having come from the distant future.
“Bring my Webley, too,” Jack said. “Frankly, I’d feel better if we had the Torchwood big gun with us. These EMDs are surprisingly efficient, but I’d prefer something with a much bigger calibre. Preferably something lethal. If one of those creatures I’ve just seen managed to slip through, then we have a problem.”
“Understood, sir. I’ll be there in twenty minutes, tops. With coffee.”
“Mr Jones, you are a jewel!” Jack grinned and hung up.
Then he readied his EMD and began his slow walk around the backstage area, looking out for anything suspicious.
He never noticed the long, prehensile, flecked tail descending from above directly behind his back.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
At St Bartholomew’s Hospital the unconscious woman was taken into a private room, with a guard placed in front of her door. She came to briefly, but Matt’s attempts to make her open up to him and get at least some information out of her proved futile.
“Let’s hope she’ll be more talkative once she’s rested a bit,” he said in a voice that revealed that he didn’t really believe it himself.
“Yeah, and pigs might fly,” Becker, still incredibly pissed with them all, muttered darkly.
Fortunately, before things could have turned really ugly between them, they were approached by a mousey, nervous-looking woman in a white lab coat. She was carrying a manila folder.
“Hi!” she said a little breathlessly. “Which one of you is Mr Anderson?”
“That would be me,” Matt said. “And you are…?”
“Molly Hooper,” she introduced herself. “I’m one of the pathologists here and have just finished the post-mortem of the woman you’ve brought in. I mean the one that was already dead, of course,” she giggled nervously.
Matt withstood the urge to roll his eyes… barely. She was a grown woman, for God’s sake, why couldn’t she behave like one?”
“What have you found, Doctor?”
The nervous little pathologist handed him the folder. “I was instructed to give you the file.”
“Instructed - by whom?” Becker asked, but she shook her head.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not authorised to tell you that. Everything you need to know is in there, though.” She waved at the folder and practically fled the room.
Connor stared after her in surprise. “What’s her problem?”
“Perhaps she’s just not used to people,” Abby suggested.
“Not living ones, you mean?” Connor deadpanned and was rewarded with a collective groan.
Matt opened the folder and studied the autopsy results with a frown. “That’s odd…”
“What does it say?” Abby intrigued.
Matt handed her the folder. “See for yourself.”
“Strange,” she commented after a quick glance. “According to this, the dead woman we found at the theatre died of an infection that antibiotics would have knocked out in days.”
“That's not all,” Becker peeked into the file over her shoulder. “She's showing antibodies for smallpox. How is that possible? She is - was - European, by the looks of her. She ought to have been vaccinated against the pox in early childhood.”
“When I followed her friend through the anomaly, she knew that world,” Matt said thoughtfully. “She knew how to handle those creatures.”
“You think she came from the anomaly?” Connor was the first to get the hit. “Cool!”
“I don't think either of them is actually from our time,” Matt replied simply.
“That makes sense,” Abby nodded. “Their clothes look as if they were at least two hundred years behind the current fashion… if not more.”
“So, what are we doing with her?” Connor asked. “Pushing her through the anomaly again? Cause that would be, like, cruel or whatnot.”
It was clearly meant as a joke, but Becker answered seriously. “I'm taking her into protective custody.”
“You're what?” Matt and Abby echoed in unison; but it was Matt whom Becker answered.
“As you said, she clearly isn't from our time. She could be infectious, hostile, psychotic…” the others tried to interrupt, but he wouldn’t let them. “No, we take her in, keep her secure and let the experts deal with her.”
“Hold on,” Matt said incredulously. “We are the experts. We can’t just lock her up like some wild animal. She's not a creature, she's a human being.”
“I didn't bring her here,” Becker returned coldly. “Whatever happens to her is not my responsibility.”
Matt glared at him with tightly controlled fury. “Well, in my judgement, we have to treat this with some sensitivity.”
He was clearly taking this personally - but so was Becker, by the sound of it.
“In your judgement!“ he echoed, his tone making glaringly obvious what he thought about the judgement of their team leader.
Matt was rapidly losing control. “Go on, why don't you just say it?”
“Fine!” Becker snapped. “You chasing her through the anomaly put everyone at risk. I've seen too many people die that way. Happy now?”
Before Becker could have replied, though, suddenly Jess’s voice sounded in their headsets.
“We have an incursion at the theatre. One man down. I repeat, we have an incursion.”
“Great. One man down,” Becker looked at Matt in open disgust. “Nice work.”
Then he touched his headset. “Jess, this is Becker. Do you know who’s it?”
“According to your men it is Captain Harkness,” Jess answered sorrowfully. “I’m really sorry.”
“Not your fault,” Becker replied. “It seems I won’t have to take the effort of getting used to having a second-in-command.”
He stormed off without a further word, ramming Matt with his shoulder on his way out rather brusquely.
Abby and Connor exchanged shocked looks. Somehow they had not expected the charismatic, larger-than-life captain to be killed so easily, on the very first day of his new job.
“Let’s go,” Connor then said, and Abby nodded in agreement.
“You stay here,” she said to Matt. “See what you can find out about the mystery woman. In one thing Becker was right: she is your responsibility.”
“And what will the two of you be doing?” Matt asked.
“Helping Becker,” Abby replied simply. “It’s what we do; what we’ve been doing for years.”
The unspoken addition unlike you hung between them like a sword. Ignoring him for the time being, the intrepid twosome ran off after Becker.
Matt sighed. Ever since Abby and Connor returned, he was feeling something of an outsider, outnumbered by the old ARC team four to one. Because Lester, too, clearly sided with them most of the time. Jess didn’t seem to face the same fate; but again, Abby and Connor lived with her, so they had probably become close in the recent weeks.
So far, old team and new leader had not come in conflict; this was the first time. He had the uncomfortable feeling that he might get marginalized if he wasn’t careful; and that would be dangerous, not only for his true mission but also for the ARC and its immediate purpose.
He shook his head ruefully and went to check on the mystery woman from the anomaly. To his shock, he found the door open and the guard who was supposed to stand in front of it being treated by the duty doctor, because of a bleeding head wound.
“Oh, great!” Matt groaned. “This day’s just getting better and better!
He ran out in search of the woman, wondering if Becker hadn’t been right about her, after all.
~TBC~