Alternatives: Monster and Medic
Who_Daily Link: < a href="http://persiflage-1.livejournal.com/304097.html">Alternatives: Monster and Medic by < lj user=persiflage_1> (Characters: Mickey Smith | Rating: PG-13 | Spoilers: None)
Title: Alternatives: Monster and Medic
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Mickey Smith
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None
Summary: A brief period in the life of Mickey Smith in Pete's World.
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: I wrote this fic months ago for a ficathon, but it was rejected owing to the fact that it's part of a series and so was obviously written by me. This story is a 'missing scene' fic for the second part of Alternatives: New Beginnings, explaining Mickey's first meeting with Alt-Martha from his PoV.
Beta: the ever-kindly fourzoas
~~~~~~
Fic Banner: angelfireeast
Mickey reached over for the next folder in his pile, then winced as he stretched slightly further than was comfortable for his injuries. He gave a soft grunt and moved his chair sideways so he could grab the folder more easily.
This was his first day back at work since he'd encountered the TechnoGenie while he was out on a tag-and-bag mission, and he occasionally found himself forgetting that he was still recovering.
He pushed his chair back to the left again and stared unseeingly at the database he was meant to be updating. He thought that night would remain etched in his memory for years to come thanks to the two individuals he'd encountered during the course of the evening: both of them unforgettable in their own way.
Three days ago
As Mickey sat at his work station his phone rang, and he picked it up, most of his attention still on the program that he was running to correlate energy spikes that had been recorded across the country with recent solar flare activity.
"Smith, I need you, Mackenzie and Jeffers to get kitted up and ready to move out in the next five minutes," Ianto Jones said.
"Sir?" asked Mickey, surprised. He tended not to go out into the field very often these days since it was generally considered that he was best employed on the tech side of Torchwood's operations.
"We're a bit short-staffed," explained his boss with a touch of impatience. "Now get going."
"On my way, sir," Mickey answered, already on his feet and rifling in his desk drawer one-handed as he talked.
"Good."
Mickey put down his phone, fished his comms headset and a revolver from the drawer, then pulled on his leather jacket.
"All right, then, Metal Mickey?" asked Phil Jeffers as he approached, John 'Mack' Mackenzie close behind.
"Ready when you are," answered Mickey. Phil and Mack were probably the only two Torchwood employees who still used the nickname that had been bestowed on him after he joined the organisation. He'd been given it after people had learned of his involvement, not only in the downfall of John Lumic and Cybus Industries, but also his part in closing down the Cybermen factories in France, Germany and Italy. But most of those who'd known him in those days had either left Torchwood or died in action, so now he tended to be called 'Smith' by the majority of people.
The trio headed downstairs to the car park of Torchwood Tower, which was better known to most Londoners as Canary Wharf, since Torchwood was discreet, even if it wasn't a secret organisation.
"What are we going after?" Mickey asked Mack as Phil climbed into the driver's seat of the SUV.
"Something Jones has dubbed a 'TechnoGenie'," Mack answered, rolling his eyes at the name.
"And what's one of those when it's roaming the streets of London?" The name might be naff, but Mickey thought the alien sounded interesting.
"It's seven foot tall and got sharp claws according to the Joe who rang it in," Mack told him.
"So why's it a 'TechnoGenie'?" asked Mickey, puzzled.
"Apparently it's raiding electronics shops and only taking certain items from them - Jones thinks it's after components to repair its ship. We've been ordered to find and bag it, and if we can find the ship, we have to secure that too."
Mickey grunted an acknowledgement. He knew what that was about: Rose was working with a team of Torchwood staff to build something they'd dubbed a dimension cannon. She was hoping to use it to return to their universe of origin so she could get back to the Doctor. To his dismay, she had managed to persuade some of the more senior Torchwood staff to go along with what he considered to be a hair-brained scheme - quite how she'd persuaded them, he didn't know and hadn't asked. He tended to avoid Rose quite often these days because they couldn't manage to spend more than ten minutes together without fighting. He and Jackie had tried hard to help Rose to settle down in this universe as they both had, but she was still obsessed with getting back to the Doctor. Mickey suspected that she was the real force behind the recently imposed 'get the tech at any cost' policy which had seen two Torchwood operatives left for dead when the aliens they'd been chasing had injured them and their colleagues had continued the chase without them. According to one less-than-discreet medic who'd spoken to Mickey on the subject, Jenkinson and Phelps had been lucky to survive.
Rose was the main reason he'd remained with Torchwood, despite an increasing uneasiness about their methods: he felt he owed it to Jackie to keep an eye on her daughter, although once he knew about the dimension cannon he'd felt even more obliged to stay. He was worried about what damage it would to both to this world and his home world; he remembered what the Doctor had said about the fact that making breaches between this world and the other one was causing damage to both worlds. He knew Rose knew about that, but he also knew that Rose was stubborn and headstrong, and that she would do whatever she could to get back to him, and damn the consequences. Sometimes he wished he could walk away from his self-imposed obligations, just walk out on the Tylers and on Torchwood, and make a new life for himself, but so far he hadn't managed it.
"Any idea where we're heading?" Phil asked as he pulled out into the darkening streets.
"It was last sighted somewhere near Oxford Street," Mack answered. "The Joe rang from an alley opposite one of the big electronics stores. We'll see if we can take it down with a tranq gun, initially."
Although Phil was the eldest of the trio, Mack was the most senior member of the team: he'd joined Torchwood at its inception. A no-nonsense Scot, he'd lost his mother and his younger sister to the Cybermen, and when Torchwood was set up in the aftermath of Lumic's ill-fated experiment, Mack had leapt at the chance to work for an organisation that would, he hoped, prevent anything similar happening again. Phil had joined around the same time as Mickey: he was a phlegmatic North Londoner who rarely got excited about anything, but was wholly reliable in a tight situation.
Mickey and Jake had joined the organisation after they had got back from helping to shut down the Cybermen factories on the Continent; their trip to Europe had made them almost inseparable as they had done their best to stop the Cybermen, and to help those who'd been caught up in the attacks. Mickey still missed Jake, who had been killed about a month after the Battle of Canary Wharf had taken place in the parallel London. These days he missed Jake more than he missed his home: with the people he knew best in this world, and his gran still alive here too, there was little to miss in that world without Zeppelins.
"There it is," Mack said suddenly, startling Mickey out of his abstraction. The Scot was pointing at a seven foot tall, fur-covered alien that had just stalked out of an electronics shop.
Mickey wanted to laugh at the sight of the creature: it was the bag on the long strap that was slung from its left shoulder to its right side that looked so incongruous. But he stamped on that urge knowing that the alien might yet hurt people, if it hadn't already.
"Any reports of Joe Public being hurt?" he asked as the three of them scrambled out of the SUV and activated their headsets.
"Not so far," Phil answered.
"Good." Mickey hated it when civilians, Joes as Torchwood called them, got hurt.
"Phil, you take the tranq gun. Mickey, you cover him," instructed Mack.
"Yes sir," they agreed simultaneously.
Mack led the way towards the TechnoGenie, which appeared to be watching their approach with curiosity. Then it snorted and loped off, covering several yards with just a few steps of its long-legged stride.
"After it!" shouted Mack, setting off at a dead run.
Personally, Mickey thought they stood a better chance of catching it if they went back to the SUV, but he wasn't in charge of the operation, so he kept his mouth shut and his eyes on their quarry as they raced down Oxford Street.
The TechnoGenie led them at such a fast pace that Mickey barely had time to register the street names flashing past as they hurtled into Harewood Place, then down St George Street, and along New and Old Bond Street. They raced along Piccadilly and then into St James Street before the TechnoGenie finally began to slow down, by which time all three men were short of breath.
"Let's see if we can take it down," Mack said, desperately gulping down deep lungfuls of air.
"Okay," Phil agreed. He looked over at the alien, judging the distance between himself and his quarry.
Mickey watched it eyeing them and wondered if it understood what they were planning to do - after all, the fact that it was stealing specific electronic parts and only targeting those shops which sold them, rather than rampaging willy-nilly down Oxford Street, implied a fair amount of intelligence.
"I'm not sure this is wise, guys," he warned as Phil dropped to one knee and took careful aim with the tranquilliser gun.
"Just give him some cover," snapped Mack, "and don't shoot it unless you have to - scare it off, for preference."
"Yes sir," agreed Mickey, trying to dispel his growing unease.
As Phil fired the creature simultaneously roared and charged at them; Mickey got off one shot, which went wide of his mark owing to his fear, and then the alien was on them. He heard yells of anger from Mack and Phil, then let out a yell of his own, but his was one of pain and terror as the creature swiped at him, its claws ripping through his clothes and skin, and he was tumbled across the street. Mickey felt as if his whole body was on fire, and he blacked out with a vague feeling of relief.
Now
Mickey's attention was drawn back to the present when his phone rang, and he picked it up quickly. He spoke briefly to his boss, who welcomed him back to work, then hung up. As he put down the handset he saw his email program flash up a new message alert. When he opened the program, he felt his heart rate speed up: it was a reply from Dr Martha Jones, the UNIT medical officer who was responsible for his continued existence since she had found and treated him.
Clicking on the email he felt a smile steal across his face as he saw that her message was accepting his invitation to join him for dinner that evening:
You don't have to take me to dinner to thank me since I was just doing my job. However, I'd love to have dinner with you tonight. See you at 7.30 pm at 101 @ Ardaz. Martha
He sent back a quick reply to say he was looking forward to it, then tried to put the thought of the beautiful medic out of his head in order to concentrate on his work. Although he was still sore from the injuries he'd sustained at the claws of the TechnoGenie, he couldn't help feeling grateful that its attack had led him to meet Martha Jones, and he was pleased by the idea of furthering his acquaintance with her.
He glanced at the clock on his computer and saw it was only 9.30 am. Dinner was hours away yet, so he would have to concentrate on updating this database - he had no intention of having to stay late tonight. He set to work again, a broad smile on his face.
Title: Alternatives: Monster and Medic
Author: Persiflage_1
Characters/Pairings: Mickey Smith
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: None
Summary: A brief period in the life of Mickey Smith in Pete's World.
Disclaimer: I occasionally wish that I did own it!
Author Notes: I wrote this fic months ago for a ficathon, but it was rejected owing to the fact that it's part of a series and so was obviously written by me. This story is a 'missing scene' fic for the second part of Alternatives: New Beginnings, explaining Mickey's first meeting with Alt-Martha from his PoV.
Beta: the ever-kindly fourzoas
~~~~~~
Fic Banner: angelfireeast
Mickey reached over for the next folder in his pile, then winced as he stretched slightly further than was comfortable for his injuries. He gave a soft grunt and moved his chair sideways so he could grab the folder more easily.
This was his first day back at work since he'd encountered the TechnoGenie while he was out on a tag-and-bag mission, and he occasionally found himself forgetting that he was still recovering.
He pushed his chair back to the left again and stared unseeingly at the database he was meant to be updating. He thought that night would remain etched in his memory for years to come thanks to the two individuals he'd encountered during the course of the evening: both of them unforgettable in their own way.
Three days ago
As Mickey sat at his work station his phone rang, and he picked it up, most of his attention still on the program that he was running to correlate energy spikes that had been recorded across the country with recent solar flare activity.
"Smith, I need you, Mackenzie and Jeffers to get kitted up and ready to move out in the next five minutes," Ianto Jones said.
"Sir?" asked Mickey, surprised. He tended not to go out into the field very often these days since it was generally considered that he was best employed on the tech side of Torchwood's operations.
"We're a bit short-staffed," explained his boss with a touch of impatience. "Now get going."
"On my way, sir," Mickey answered, already on his feet and rifling in his desk drawer one-handed as he talked.
"Good."
Mickey put down his phone, fished his comms headset and a revolver from the drawer, then pulled on his leather jacket.
"All right, then, Metal Mickey?" asked Phil Jeffers as he approached, John 'Mack' Mackenzie close behind.
"Ready when you are," answered Mickey. Phil and Mack were probably the only two Torchwood employees who still used the nickname that had been bestowed on him after he joined the organisation. He'd been given it after people had learned of his involvement, not only in the downfall of John Lumic and Cybus Industries, but also his part in closing down the Cybermen factories in France, Germany and Italy. But most of those who'd known him in those days had either left Torchwood or died in action, so now he tended to be called 'Smith' by the majority of people.
The trio headed downstairs to the car park of Torchwood Tower, which was better known to most Londoners as Canary Wharf, since Torchwood was discreet, even if it wasn't a secret organisation.
"What are we going after?" Mickey asked Mack as Phil climbed into the driver's seat of the SUV.
"Something Jones has dubbed a 'TechnoGenie'," Mack answered, rolling his eyes at the name.
"And what's one of those when it's roaming the streets of London?" The name might be naff, but Mickey thought the alien sounded interesting.
"It's seven foot tall and got sharp claws according to the Joe who rang it in," Mack told him.
"So why's it a 'TechnoGenie'?" asked Mickey, puzzled.
"Apparently it's raiding electronics shops and only taking certain items from them - Jones thinks it's after components to repair its ship. We've been ordered to find and bag it, and if we can find the ship, we have to secure that too."
Mickey grunted an acknowledgement. He knew what that was about: Rose was working with a team of Torchwood staff to build something they'd dubbed a dimension cannon. She was hoping to use it to return to their universe of origin so she could get back to the Doctor. To his dismay, she had managed to persuade some of the more senior Torchwood staff to go along with what he considered to be a hair-brained scheme - quite how she'd persuaded them, he didn't know and hadn't asked. He tended to avoid Rose quite often these days because they couldn't manage to spend more than ten minutes together without fighting. He and Jackie had tried hard to help Rose to settle down in this universe as they both had, but she was still obsessed with getting back to the Doctor. Mickey suspected that she was the real force behind the recently imposed 'get the tech at any cost' policy which had seen two Torchwood operatives left for dead when the aliens they'd been chasing had injured them and their colleagues had continued the chase without them. According to one less-than-discreet medic who'd spoken to Mickey on the subject, Jenkinson and Phelps had been lucky to survive.
Rose was the main reason he'd remained with Torchwood, despite an increasing uneasiness about their methods: he felt he owed it to Jackie to keep an eye on her daughter, although once he knew about the dimension cannon he'd felt even more obliged to stay. He was worried about what damage it would to both to this world and his home world; he remembered what the Doctor had said about the fact that making breaches between this world and the other one was causing damage to both worlds. He knew Rose knew about that, but he also knew that Rose was stubborn and headstrong, and that she would do whatever she could to get back to him, and damn the consequences. Sometimes he wished he could walk away from his self-imposed obligations, just walk out on the Tylers and on Torchwood, and make a new life for himself, but so far he hadn't managed it.
"Any idea where we're heading?" Phil asked as he pulled out into the darkening streets.
"It was last sighted somewhere near Oxford Street," Mack answered. "The Joe rang from an alley opposite one of the big electronics stores. We'll see if we can take it down with a tranq gun, initially."
Although Phil was the eldest of the trio, Mack was the most senior member of the team: he'd joined Torchwood at its inception. A no-nonsense Scot, he'd lost his mother and his younger sister to the Cybermen, and when Torchwood was set up in the aftermath of Lumic's ill-fated experiment, Mack had leapt at the chance to work for an organisation that would, he hoped, prevent anything similar happening again. Phil had joined around the same time as Mickey: he was a phlegmatic North Londoner who rarely got excited about anything, but was wholly reliable in a tight situation.
Mickey and Jake had joined the organisation after they had got back from helping to shut down the Cybermen factories on the Continent; their trip to Europe had made them almost inseparable as they had done their best to stop the Cybermen, and to help those who'd been caught up in the attacks. Mickey still missed Jake, who had been killed about a month after the Battle of Canary Wharf had taken place in the parallel London. These days he missed Jake more than he missed his home: with the people he knew best in this world, and his gran still alive here too, there was little to miss in that world without Zeppelins.
"There it is," Mack said suddenly, startling Mickey out of his abstraction. The Scot was pointing at a seven foot tall, fur-covered alien that had just stalked out of an electronics shop.
Mickey wanted to laugh at the sight of the creature: it was the bag on the long strap that was slung from its left shoulder to its right side that looked so incongruous. But he stamped on that urge knowing that the alien might yet hurt people, if it hadn't already.
"Any reports of Joe Public being hurt?" he asked as the three of them scrambled out of the SUV and activated their headsets.
"Not so far," Phil answered.
"Good." Mickey hated it when civilians, Joes as Torchwood called them, got hurt.
"Phil, you take the tranq gun. Mickey, you cover him," instructed Mack.
"Yes sir," they agreed simultaneously.
Mack led the way towards the TechnoGenie, which appeared to be watching their approach with curiosity. Then it snorted and loped off, covering several yards with just a few steps of its long-legged stride.
"After it!" shouted Mack, setting off at a dead run.
Personally, Mickey thought they stood a better chance of catching it if they went back to the SUV, but he wasn't in charge of the operation, so he kept his mouth shut and his eyes on their quarry as they raced down Oxford Street.
The TechnoGenie led them at such a fast pace that Mickey barely had time to register the street names flashing past as they hurtled into Harewood Place, then down St George Street, and along New and Old Bond Street. They raced along Piccadilly and then into St James Street before the TechnoGenie finally began to slow down, by which time all three men were short of breath.
"Let's see if we can take it down," Mack said, desperately gulping down deep lungfuls of air.
"Okay," Phil agreed. He looked over at the alien, judging the distance between himself and his quarry.
Mickey watched it eyeing them and wondered if it understood what they were planning to do - after all, the fact that it was stealing specific electronic parts and only targeting those shops which sold them, rather than rampaging willy-nilly down Oxford Street, implied a fair amount of intelligence.
"I'm not sure this is wise, guys," he warned as Phil dropped to one knee and took careful aim with the tranquilliser gun.
"Just give him some cover," snapped Mack, "and don't shoot it unless you have to - scare it off, for preference."
"Yes sir," agreed Mickey, trying to dispel his growing unease.
As Phil fired the creature simultaneously roared and charged at them; Mickey got off one shot, which went wide of his mark owing to his fear, and then the alien was on them. He heard yells of anger from Mack and Phil, then let out a yell of his own, but his was one of pain and terror as the creature swiped at him, its claws ripping through his clothes and skin, and he was tumbled across the street. Mickey felt as if his whole body was on fire, and he blacked out with a vague feeling of relief.
Now
Mickey's attention was drawn back to the present when his phone rang, and he picked it up quickly. He spoke briefly to his boss, who welcomed him back to work, then hung up. As he put down the handset he saw his email program flash up a new message alert. When he opened the program, he felt his heart rate speed up: it was a reply from Dr Martha Jones, the UNIT medical officer who was responsible for his continued existence since she had found and treated him.
Clicking on the email he felt a smile steal across his face as he saw that her message was accepting his invitation to join him for dinner that evening:
You don't have to take me to dinner to thank me since I was just doing my job. However, I'd love to have dinner with you tonight. See you at 7.30 pm at 101 @ Ardaz. Martha
He sent back a quick reply to say he was looking forward to it, then tried to put the thought of the beautiful medic out of his head in order to concentrate on his work. Although he was still sore from the injuries he'd sustained at the claws of the TechnoGenie, he couldn't help feeling grateful that its attack had led him to meet Martha Jones, and he was pleased by the idea of furthering his acquaintance with her.
He glanced at the clock on his computer and saw it was only 9.30 am. Dinner was hours away yet, so he would have to concentrate on updating this database - he had no intention of having to stay late tonight. He set to work again, a broad smile on his face.