Hope (3/?)
Title: Hope (3/?)
Fandom, Pairing: Torchwood, Jack/Ianto
Rating: Low PG (for now ;D)
Genre: Angst, Drama, Romance
Disclaimer: Not mine. If they were... well series 3 would have been very different
Warnings: Spoilers for all series's i think. Especially Children Of Earth.
Short Summary: a young girl, a long way from home, could be the answer to everything. If only they had the strength to hope.
Notes: Edited Version. Was once a couple of very short posts, but i've put them together, as well as making them a whole lot better x
Prologue
Part 1
Part 2
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Three
Gwen was the first to pluck up the courage to peer over the edge of the crater, closely followed by Chris and Martha, their faces identical mixes of terror, and intense curiosity.
“It’s a bit small don’t you think?” Gwen whispered, picking clumps of mud out of her hair, “Barely even a ship really.”
“Maybe they’re just really small aliens,” Chris whispered back, tapping away at the machine in his hands, a small grin on his face, “And why are we whispering?”
Gwen scowled, getting to her feet to get a proper look, “Just get on with the bloody readings.”
Chris did a quick scan, the grin still there, “No detectable radiation, or harmful gases in the area,” He reported, flicking through the results, “Slight electro magnetic charge, but weirdly enough, not coming from the ship,” He frowned slightly, “Seems to be coming from the one source of heat on board. Judging from this, I’d say a creature pretty similar to a human,” He flashed another grin at the women, “It’s a shame really; I was rather looking forward to a tussle with a couple of hundred tiny aliens.”
Martha hid her smile, coming to stand between her two comrades “So it’s safe for us to have a poke around?”
“Seems to be,” Chris shrugged, “As long as the poking isn’t too vigorous.”
The team laughed, taking the edge of the situation for a moment. Cautiously, they lowered themselves into the crater. For such a small ship, it had left quite an impact on the Welsh countryside.
As they neared the ship, they began to get more slowly, guns drawn, in a defensive formation, “Are you sure it’s alive, Chris?” Gwen asked, after neither seeing nor hearing any signs of life from within.
“Definitely, but from the state the ship, I’d say whatever it is won’t be in the best condition.”
The landing had really taken its toll on the little space craft. The crater was littered with chunks of metal, stripped from the ship upon collision with the Earth. Smoke rose from the ship itself and wires and pipes jutted crudely out from slashes in the metal.
Gwen led her team around the ruined, dome like, space craft until they located a small panel on one side. Her eyes flitted from her team-mates’ faces to the little door. They nodded in silent encouragement. She stretched out her hand, reaching for the submarine like cog on the door. She snapped her hand back, as her skin connected briefly with the blisteringly hot metal.
Heart pounding in her ears, Gwen pulled of her jacket and wrapped it round her hand. The metal whined and protested as she tugged at the cog, but eventually the door swung open. She aimed her gun into the ship and gasped, her eyes going wide.
Martha and Chris, startled by her gasp, peered over her shoulders. Their mouths fell open in surprise and shock.
“But…” Martha started, lowering her gun, “But that’s….”
Martha trailed off, staring into the little ship; there, nestled amongst wires, broken metal and blood, was a child. Unmistakeably not a human child, but a child none the less.
The girl lay curled in a rather foetal position, eyes closed, presumably unconscious. Her skin was pale to the extreme, almost transparent, with a dappling of blue-green across her nose and cheeks, rather like the freckles of a human child. This dappling of colour also framed her face, darkening at the roots of her vivid, teal coloured hair.
The team stared, transfixed, taking in her pointed, pixie-like features. The alien child stirred, her face contorting in pain, dark blood running down her cheek. Her movement seemed to snap them out of their group trance, jolting them into action.
“We have got to get her out of there,” Gwen said, eyes wide, “What d’you recon, Martha? Is it safe to try to move her?”
Martha peered closer, leaning into the tiny pod, “Looks like it. We’ll have to be careful though, hard to tell exactly what state she’s in.”
Chris rummaged through the bag he was carrying for a moment, pulling out a small metal instrument, a laser cutter, and getting to work, stripping down the ship slightly to make the rescue easier. Gwen and Martha joined him, pulling away machinery, reaching out to the little girl.
So immersed in their task, the sound of another engine didn’t register with the team.
Chris gripped the girl’s thin arms, pulling her gently from the wreckage. He held her gently against his chest, letting Martha check her over and sharing his body heat with the unconscious child.
They didn’t hear the hiss of hydraulics, or the protest of heated metal hinges.
Neither did they notice the squelch of heavy boots into thick mud, nor the unmistakeable swish of a long woollen coat.
The sharp intake of breath went unnoticed as well, but not the voice. A voice thick with suppressed grief and pain. A voice the two women had thought they would never hear again.
“Well, what have we here?” Thier heads snapped round. Captain Jack Harkness flashed a cocky grin at them, a grin the girls had seen so many times before. The grin he hid behind; the grin that no longer met his eyes. Gwen and Martha gaped at him, their expressions strange mixes of shock, anger and relief, “Did you miss me?
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dun dun duuhhh.
so, jack's back. ^_^
Comments please :)