(no subject)
Title: Finding the Way Home 2/?
Author: Jessi B.
Email: shadowrider@blomand.net
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13ish for some violence to giant ants
Pairing: Jack/Mickey
Summary: Giant ants and time-lag in this bit.
Notes: This is an AU set after The Christmas Invasion, which I just got to see. Still trying to get a feel for the characters.
“So, you just woke up?” Mickey handed him a soda can from the fridge.
“Just in time to see the TARDIS vanish, yeah. Thanks,” Taking the can he looked thoughtful, feet propped on Mickey’s coffee table. He was dressed in jeans, a white tee shirt, and tennis shoes. A blue parka with black gloves in the pocket was over the back of his chair, all thanks to his new time ship. “I guess if he was regenerating I can understand it though, especially since he heard me die. I wonder how I survived...”
“As long as you did huh?” Mickey shrugged. “So you were hoping to catch Rose in then?”
“Well, it’s one of the places they actually come back to. I could wait forever somewhere else but they’ll actually show up here.”
“So what are you doing till then? Waiting with the rest of us?” Mickey’s edge of bitterness didn’t go unnoticed but the time traveler didn’t say anything. Must be nice to actually have someone who cared what became of you or if you never came back at all.
“Looks like, want a roommate?” Jack grinned.
“Oh no, I’m not supporting you,” Mickey said shaking his head. “Not a chance.”
“I don’t expect you to, I’ve got my own, somewhat stolen, time ship that will get me fake documents and a visa. So I can get a job, I just don’t want to sleep on the ship. The Doctor’s ship may be huge but mine has a tiny bunk and a combo bathroom/kitchen, it’s meant for quick trips not long stays.”
“You took a time ship? Don’t you think someone’s gonna notice that? Isn’t there some sort of time police?”
“Not really, at least not anyone who’s going to worry about little ‘ol me as long as I keep my nose clean and don’t interfere with any historical events. No one’s got the time or machinery to keep up with the entire universe and quite honestly who would look for me in this backwards age on this tiny little bleep of human history?”
“Thanks for that,” Mickey said frowning.
“Nothing personal, but trust me you’d feel the same way if we went back a few centuries. So, if I pay half the rent can I sleep here?”
“Sure, why not. IF you pay half the rent and as long as you don’t start any of the stuff the Doctor does when he shows up, or you’re back on your ship, got it?”
***
“I still can’t believe you’re not Rose’s older sister...” Jack’s smile and flirting had made Jackie Tyler putty in his hands within five minutes of meeting her.
Mickey rolled his eyes.
“Are we going to dinner or are you two done making googly eyes at each other?” He asked, leaning against the door jam while Jackie preened under the attention.
“Oh, don’t be jealous, Mickey, I’ll have plenty of time to make ‘eyes’ at you later,” The Captain smiled and winked at him, grin broadening when the other man blushed.
“Well, we’re off then,” Jackie took Jack’s arm and let herself be escorted out. Jack kept the woman on his arm talking, nodding ever now and again as he listened to her chat about Howard and his habits. Mickey was already bored stiff but Jack seemed to actually be interested, keeping Rose’s mother going on about Howard, then Rose, and finally the Doctor. It wasn’t until Jackie was well into the subject of the Doctor that Mickey realized that getting more information from Jackie might have been the goal all along.
“I like him better, it may sound harsh, but he’s much more sociable then he was. Not as prickly and stand offish,” She was saying as they parked. Jackie had been leaning between the seats as she talked. “It’s weird though, changing your whole face like that.”
“Sometimes it’s easy to forget he’s an alien,” Jack agreed as he got out, holding the door for her. “He looks just like us, it’s strange how alike some races are. Some species look so human you’d think they are. Then again, with some aliens there’s no mistaking it...”
“Like living plastic,” Mickey muttered.
“Exactly!” The grin was back. “But really, no one can blame you for being a little startled.” He assured Jackie as she took his arm. “So, food, my treat. You coming Mickey?”
He looked around at Mickey who was hanging back.
“Thought you two might want be alone...” Mickey said, “the way you’re carrying on.”
“Nah,” Reaching back Jack pulled the darker man up beside him wrapping a friendly, almost too friendly, arm around Mickey’s waist. “Why have one when I can have you both?”
“You’re terrible you are,” Jackie laughed but she didn’t seem upset. “Do you flirt with everyone?”
“I think of it as hedging my bets.”
Jackie had suggested they go out and eat at a new place that had opened and Jack had agreed so Mickey felt obligated to go along and make sure Jack didn’t get himself into trouble.
Since he’d shown up at Mickey’s door a few weeks ago he’d managed to get himself a job at Clancy’s, the garage Mickey worked at, in the office. Jack could talk an angry customer down in less then ten minutes. His current record according to Steve was four minutes.
Mickey had been worried that the 51st century man would get his block knocked off the first week. He was a constant flirt and it had startled the guys at first but it wasn’t like Jack was going to force them into it and he was the first in the office to step out and lend a hand when they needed it. Harkness wasn’t too bad with cars actually, but he told Mickey privately that it was mostly because as a time agent it was never a good idea to be caught without a ride. Actually, Jack was becoming popular at work and reminded Mickey a little too much of another time traveler.
It wasn’t like he could blame his friends and co-workers for liking Jack. The ‘Captain’ was just hard to not like really, Jack knew just what to say at just when and was so good at everything that he could actually back most of his boasts. Still, it was like the universe wasn’t content with taking his girl and was now after his life too.
“It was a pleasure, as always,” Jack said as they dropped Jackie at her door after dinner, he leaned in and kissed her cheek, making her giggle.
“You flirt, you both come by Sunday for dinner, I’ll see you then,” Still smiling she unlocked her door and went inside.
“Watch it or she’ll take you up on all that flirting one day,” Mickey warned.
“I wouldn’t mind, of course it might make things awkward with Rose,” Jack said absently. “I don’t think Jackie’s serious though, she just likes flirting and she does seem to be getting along with Howard. Though honestly, I think Howard’s a little odd.”
“No arguments there,” Mickey agreed, letting Jack open the door with the spare key.
“But why the concern, Micks? Jealous?” Winking Jack pushed the door open and walked in.
“See, you’ll just flirt with anyone, you’re never serious,” Mickey said shaking his head and closing the door. Jack was leaning against the wall watching him lock up.
“Or, I’m always serious,” He grinned. “Your century is so...limiting.”
“Oh there we go, since you’re human you just insult the time we’re in. If you time travelers don’t like it here you should stop dropping in,” Mickey shoved past him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it’s terrible, no more then the Doctor meant he hated humans. He wouldn’t have shown up to save the planet so often if he did, it’s just weird to think that the human race came from this. In my time gender just doesn’t matter, if I like someone I like them. Gender isn’t one of the considerations.”
“I know, anyone who talks to you gets that, it’s just whenever one of you blows through you always...” Mickey shook his head dropping his coat over a chair.
“Get all the girls and make you look bad?” Jack guessed as the other man scowled. “It’s just perspective, Mickey, if a hot alien babe ‘blew’ through and wanted you to go along with her you can’t tell me you wouldn’t consider it.”
“Maybe, but it’s different with me, I don’t have anyone here, Rose had her mother and...friends.”
“Yeah, she’s lucky like that. That’s why she’ll come back, she’s got something here. I’ve got nothing back home, that’s why it’s not even tempting to go back,” Slumping on the couch he suddenly smiled, banishing the serious look he’d been wearing. “But that’s the way it’s always been for me. Nothing serious.”
***
“Mrs. Brown’s car isn’t going to be done for another twenty minutes,” Mickey warned when Jack came towards the repair area with a clipboard. He was wearing the standard issue blue coveralls and still managed make the thing look like it was special order. “We’ve been swamped since Friday and Bobby called out.”
“Need a hand?” Jack asked, directing the question at the struggling Steve, Ron, and Mickey in general.
“’d be nice,” Ron agreed the redhead popped out from under a car briefly. “But Mrs. Brown makes Cindy and Doran nervous, you’ll probably be the only one to get her calmed down.”
“Right, that sounds vaguely worrisome, I’ll try to put her off and be back,” Jack turned, jotting something in his odd shorthand to the side of the clipboard. He’d told Mickey it was actually just writing but no one here knew the language and assumed he just couldn’t write to save his life.
“That man could talk his way out of hell,” Steve commented, shaking his head and going back to his work.
“Mrs. Brown, how nice to see you again...” Jack’s voice floated to them from near the office. Mickey rolled his eyes, reaching for something in his tools, stopping when he noticed the tools where rocking slightly. In fact, it felt like the ground was...
Someone screamed from the street and Mickey stepped through the open roll up door to look out, he felt Jack at his side a moment later. A large robotic cockroach creature was making its way down the street. It was as wide as the street and it opened its jaws to screech in short bursts interspaced with clicks.
“What...is that?” Mickey asked shakily.
“I’ve got some ideas, and I think I’m the only one understanding it.”
“It’s talking?”
“Thought so, yeah, it’s making demands. The usual, bring me your leader and/or riches type thing. We now own this world, so on and so forth...See this is the reason your prime minister shouldn’t have destroyed the Sycorax, they would have went back and warned that some powerful alien was protecting Earth to save face.”
“So what, this thing found out we were open?”
“More like it realized how much Earth would be on the open market and noticed that despite the destruction of a large ship you’re still kinda helpless,” Jack watched the thing a few more minutes. “Come on, looks like this one is up to us.”
“What?” But Jack was already moving back to the office. The frightened employees took his orders without a second thought, pulling cars in, rolling doors down, and securing the area, even though the bug was long gone. It had vanished from sight, literally just vanishing in a beam of blue, a few streets away.
“You’re probably right,” Fredrick Clancy was agreeing. “Better to keep everyone safe...” Jack waved him out of the office, where everything had been turned off and filed away, before locking up.
“Exactly, I’m sure the government will take care of...that and we’ll be back, probably by tomorrow,” Jack was saying, handing the keys over while Mickey ushered a shaking Mrs. Brown into a cab and sent her home.
“Tomorrow?” Mickey asked as he joined Jack and let himself be led away.
“I was going for a hopeful tone, I didn’t think telling him that this was one of the first legs of an invasion force would have done that.”
“Where are we going?”
“Our place, the roof, my ship has some stuff we’ll need.”
“You parked your space ship on the roof?”
“More like anchored, it’s floating above,” Jack said as they made their way up the steps. He flipped his wrist computer open when they reached the roof deactivating the outer camouflage. The time ship was a bulky ugly gray thing, shaped vaguely like a large cone on its side. It was roughly the size of the roof plus a bit and a set of stairs unfolded as Jack stepped up. “It’s not the TARDIS but it’s more then nothing.”
Walking up the steps after Jack, Mickey froze when a red light and an alarm went off.
“Sorry, one sec, the ship doesn’t know you...” Jack tapped a few keys on his wrist and the noises and lights stopped, a beam of light flicked on and moved from Mickey’s head to his feet. “There, it’ll recognize you from now on.”
“Alright,” Shaking his head to clear the slight buzz in it thanks to the beam of light he followed Harkness into the ship, the stairs retracted behind him and the hatch closed. They stopped at a door and Jack tapped something in the panel and the door slid open. The large room was lined with gadgets, drawers, and tools, a work bench was fit into the far wall. Jack stepped in with purpose pulling open a couple of drawers and pulling things out, he motioned Mickey towards the workbench and dropped them on it.
“What’s all this, then?” Mickey asked as he was handed a wrist computer that looked a lot like Jack’s.
“Stuff you’ll need, put that on so it can scan your DNA,” Jack said sorting through some things on the bench. Mickey shrugged and hesitantly put the band on his right wrist, opposite of his watch. The screen flipped up and some symbols that looked vaguely familiar flashed by. “What’s it doing?”
“Sorry, I forgot it’s set for modern English,” Turning Jack tapped something into his own unit, the screen on Mickey’s cleared and refocused, reforming into the words ‘loading user DNA signature, stand by.’
“So...what’s it doing?”
“Getting to know you, the wrist computer can interface with just about anything and it holds stores of information. It can be used by anyone but after it bonds to a DNA signature it will only respond for that person...”
“Please state name,” The wrist computer demanded.
“Mickey Smith,” He said after Jack gave him a ‘go ahead’ gesture.
“Voice imprint saved, thank you,” The mechanical, vaguely female, voice faded and the small screen began to rapidly process information.
“It also acts as a universal translator,” Jack continued, “you’ll actually hear the words because it’ll be translated inside your brain using a psychic circuit.”
“Like the TARDIS?”
“Only much more limited, if the translator doesn’t know it we have to give it a few hours to try and translate, the TARDIS does the same thing in about three seconds and can translate without having to be next to it. God I loved fiddling with that machine, she’s a real beauty and the Doctor let me have my way with her...within reason.”
“You need a moment?” Mickey asked, trying not to smile at the wistful look on the other man’s face.
“I might, everything we’ve got here looks like children toys in comparison,” Jack hefted a one of the large guns he’d pulled out. “It’s not a sonic screwdriver, but hey, maybe it’ll do.”
“So what are these aliens?” Mickey asked looking at the gun with more then a little apprehension.
“The Quisling, I think. It all fits but they shouldn’t be anywhere near Earth for another century or two,” While he talked Jack was tinkering with the large weapon in his hands. When he seemed satisfied he put it the side and began doing the same changes to another. “They’re huge ants by the way, with wings and stingers.”
“Figures, you never get cute fluffy easy to kill threatening aliens,” He looked around the room as his new gizmo flashed things across the screen.
“There are some aliens that are cute, fluffy and bent on universal domination,” Jack said deadpan. The thing with Harkness was that when you knew him, that is knew where and when he was from, it was hard to tell if he was joking or not.
“Are we just gonna go in, guns blazing?” The Englishman asked.
“Nah, that’d never work, this is probably just a scout ship, we need to discourage them and send them back to their proper place and time.” Here Jack motioned at the guns on the bench with what might have been a screwdriver if the end weren’t a bit blurry. “These are sonic blasters, they give the bugs the universe’s worst headache.”
“So...what’s the plan?” Mickey looked at the large gun he was handed, frowning.
“We sneak aboard their ship, see how they ended up here, cause some chaos, flood the hive ship with knock out gas, then haul them back to where they’re supposed to be.”
“Oh, sure, glad you stuck with something simple.”
“I didn’t want to over do it, like someone’s prime minister.”
“Hey, she wasn’t so bad before she shot down a ship of aliens.”
“Mass murder with a simple order makes her right up there in my voting choices,” Jack said sarcastically. Mickey looked away, examining the gun. It was still hard for him to see the destruction as mass murder, just a group of aliens being blown up like in the movies was easier, which made him feel a little less then human himself. The descendant of humanity who he was talking to however had been just as horrified as the Doctor, Jack looked grim at the mention of the lost aliens. “She should be put on trial for unnecessary use of violent armaments.”
“Think the Doctor got to her last time, maybe she’ll think twice next time,” Mickey offered as he was handed one of the larger guns.
“Let’s hope so, who knows what she’s up to now. I’d like to get the Quisling out of here with as few deaths on both sides as possible. The giant robot was for show, they’ll get nasty later. It’s not that they’re totally evil mind you, just a bit ruthless. Humans shouldn’t encounter them until they’re well into colonizing other worlds.”
“Right, so we put ‘em back where they’re supposed to be and that’s that...”
“Let’s hope so.”
From the weapons room they went to the control room, where Jack settled into the pilot’s chair, answering questions as he started bringing the ship around.
“Right so this, it’s your horizon, this is the cloak indicator, green means on, and right now I’m using the button controls though there’s a manual switch, that black toggle, that will switch to a steering control that looks kinda like a plane’s,” He stopped to bring them up farther in the atmosphere, half enjoying the way Mickey pressed in near his shoulder, even if it was just to see the controls.
“Some of what you said makes sense, the other half is rubbish,” His companion said after listening to Jack go on a few more minutes.
“Our frame of reference is different, the only reason I know so much about your century is because I was Time Agent, trust me I’m making perfect sense, you just don’t understand it.”
“Watch it, I’ll let you go talk to the ants yourself,” Mickey warned, watching sky pass at a dizzying speed. He could understand, sometimes, why Rose did what she did, seeing new places and different times. Some days he wished he’d taken the Doctor up on his offer to come along, at least then he would have still been with her. The Doctor summed him up pretty well in the end though, ‘Mickey the Idiot’ he just didn’t keep up the way Rose and Jack did.
“There they are,” Jack nodded at display screen that had lit up while Mickey was watching the Earth recede on another screen. Mickey turned in the tiny bolted in seat he’d perched in and watched the hornet nest like ship come into view. “Behind the moon, keeping off Earth’s sensors I bet.”
The former agent started punching buttons and steering them towards the ship.
“Getting a little close aren’t you?”
“Nah, their technology is centuries behind, they won’t even see us. Activate your wrist comm.” Jack turned on auto-controls to keep the ship hovering.
“Right, how? It closed up a few minutes ago,” The mechanic prodded at the bulky bracelet lightly, feeling for a button or switch.
“Outer edge, to the left, just run you thumb over it, it’ll scan you and open,” The screen popped up as Mickey followed instructions. “I’m setting an emergency transport beam up, just in case, if something happens and you need to use it, open the computer and say ‘initiate beam out’.”
“Got it,” Mickey said watching the screen as it downloaded new instructions from the shipboard computer.
“Ok, we’re going to do this as simple as possible, I’m beaming us into their version of a broom closet where I should be able to interface with a computer and find out what’s going on, you keep guard on the door, ready?”
“Yeah, bu...” The beam activated then, leaving Mickey blinking in a dimly lit room. When his eyes adjusted he could make out a small door to one side, the top of the door came to about his mid-chest and it was curved. The ceiling was just a hand reach up and he hoped Jack found what he needed because he didn’t fancy trying to run or fight in the cramped quarters.
“Looks like they got lost and went through some distortion,” Jack said softly as he tapped on his wrist and then the computer console he was kneeling beside. “That might be what brought them here.”
“Right, listen...” Mickey started looking over Jack’s head.
“So it shouldn’t be that hard to get them back in place, they should be light years away from here.”
“Jack, I think...”
“A little knock out gas and the tractor beam at max should...” He stopped when Mickey leveled the sonic blaster at a point just over where he was kneeling, slowly turning to find himself looking at an angry line of guard ants that were standing over rows of eggs.
“I think we’re in the wrong room,” Mickey continued, pressing the sonic gun’s trigger, just in time to send an ant screeching to the ground before it hit Jack. The residual sound sent the others scurrying to the sides.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Jack hit the button by the door and they both ducked out. “Ok, this is bad. They’re gonna think we’re from Earth, we need to start plan B now.”
“Plan B?”
Jack pulled him towards a console on a wall, prying the side up with the not-quite-screwdriver.
“Cover me.”
Mickey decided this was probably the moment he would have instituted the emergency beam out. Which was why he wasn’t Jack, Rose, or the Doctor, he was just Mickey Smith, mechanic and sometimes sidekick it seemed. The ants weren’t lacking some sort of communication because the hallways were filling quickly with scrabbling ants. They were being kept back by the sonic blasts but every time he turned to one side he was almost overrun from the other. He didn’t dare to look back at what Jack was doing.
“Intruders on deck eighteen, near nursery, all available guards to deck...” The oddly accented voice announced. Turning to fire another blast to his right he yelped when something sliced through his left sleeve. One of the guard ants was using his manables to try and take a chunk out of him. Mickey shoved hard sending the ant stumbling back and hissing curses at the human’s ancestors. A blast sent the left advance back a bit and the struggle had cost him valuable inches on the right.
“Jack!”
“Cover your ears!” Jack called back, finishing wiring his own sonic gun into the panel.
“What?!”
“Cover your ears! Now!” And then a loud screeching noise interrupted the broadcasts on the intercom. Mickey dropped his gun to belatedly plug his ears. The ants were getting the worst of it though, screeching and shaking their heads. The sound slowly stopped after several long bursts. When he looked around again, the ants were unconscious around him, and Jack was speaking to him, but no sound was coming out.
“Didn’t I say cover your ears?” Jack asked, shaking his head. “Bet you can’t hear a thing can you?”
“I can’t hear what you’re saying!” Mickey answered a little too loudly.
“Thought so, come on,” Tapping his wrist he initiated an emergency transport beam.
***
“So, next time, listen to me,” Jack was saying as he ran a blowing something next to Mickey’s ears, repairing the eardrum.
“Next time, let me in on the plan,” Mickey snapped back.
“I was making that one up as we went, just keep up,” Grinning he turned to get something else off a tray in the small Emergency Care Unit. “Hold still.” Without a second warning he sliced away the just above the jagged but thankfully shallow wound with what looked like a laser pointer.
“Careful with that.”
“Don’t worry, it’s set for cloth only,” Scanning the wound Jack touched a switch on the end of the table Mickey was sitting on. “Keep still.” The nanogens appeared quickly from the vents to swarm on the wound, it seemed to vanish even the blood was cleaned away.
“Right, at least this sidekick thing has a medical plan,” The other man flexed his arm experimentally. “So, that gas you beamed in, will that keep ‘em out?”
“Plus a brain shattering blast from a full volume sonic burst? They’ll be lucky if they wake up in a week. We’ll drop them off in another galaxy near their home planet.”
“We?”
“Yeah, I’ve already set the coordinates, we’ll be there in a few hours,” Jack stretched. “Come on, when are you ever going to get the chance to go to another galaxy, Mr. 21st century?”
“With you and the Doctor I think I got better odds then most,” The other man frowned standing.
“You have no sense of adventure.”
“You and Rose got double shares, will we get back in time for work?”
“It’s a time ship, we’ll get there four minutes after we left.”
“I’ve heard that one before.”
****
They were actually back five minutes after they left and Mickey had to reset his watch with the ‘proper’ time. Jack got them beers from the fridge and they settled on the couch to watch the news.
“The escaped parade float has been tracked back to...” Mickey tossed a throw pillow at the screen
“I don’t get how they can do it, the Doctor always says ‘Now they can’t deny it’ and the next night there’s a stupid explanation that makes no bloody sense.”
“Eh, in a few decades there’ll be no denying it, they’ll be here.”
“They could walk up and talk to us and the news’d claim it was kid in a mask,” Laying his head back the mechanic sighed.
“It gets better, Mick, c’mon, lets go do something.”
“Like what?”
“We got the day off, let’s see a movie, go to a museum, or just get drunk.”
“It’s two in the afternoon, even if it feels later.”
“That’s the time-lag, think of it as getting a jump on things.”
Despite himself Mickey smiled and was tempted by the idea, regardless of what he told Rose he wasn’t much more then a hanger on in his old group now.
“Yeah, ok.”
Author: Jessi B.
Email: shadowrider@blomand.net
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13ish for some violence to giant ants
Pairing: Jack/Mickey
Summary: Giant ants and time-lag in this bit.
Notes: This is an AU set after The Christmas Invasion, which I just got to see. Still trying to get a feel for the characters.
“So, you just woke up?” Mickey handed him a soda can from the fridge.
“Just in time to see the TARDIS vanish, yeah. Thanks,” Taking the can he looked thoughtful, feet propped on Mickey’s coffee table. He was dressed in jeans, a white tee shirt, and tennis shoes. A blue parka with black gloves in the pocket was over the back of his chair, all thanks to his new time ship. “I guess if he was regenerating I can understand it though, especially since he heard me die. I wonder how I survived...”
“As long as you did huh?” Mickey shrugged. “So you were hoping to catch Rose in then?”
“Well, it’s one of the places they actually come back to. I could wait forever somewhere else but they’ll actually show up here.”
“So what are you doing till then? Waiting with the rest of us?” Mickey’s edge of bitterness didn’t go unnoticed but the time traveler didn’t say anything. Must be nice to actually have someone who cared what became of you or if you never came back at all.
“Looks like, want a roommate?” Jack grinned.
“Oh no, I’m not supporting you,” Mickey said shaking his head. “Not a chance.”
“I don’t expect you to, I’ve got my own, somewhat stolen, time ship that will get me fake documents and a visa. So I can get a job, I just don’t want to sleep on the ship. The Doctor’s ship may be huge but mine has a tiny bunk and a combo bathroom/kitchen, it’s meant for quick trips not long stays.”
“You took a time ship? Don’t you think someone’s gonna notice that? Isn’t there some sort of time police?”
“Not really, at least not anyone who’s going to worry about little ‘ol me as long as I keep my nose clean and don’t interfere with any historical events. No one’s got the time or machinery to keep up with the entire universe and quite honestly who would look for me in this backwards age on this tiny little bleep of human history?”
“Thanks for that,” Mickey said frowning.
“Nothing personal, but trust me you’d feel the same way if we went back a few centuries. So, if I pay half the rent can I sleep here?”
“Sure, why not. IF you pay half the rent and as long as you don’t start any of the stuff the Doctor does when he shows up, or you’re back on your ship, got it?”
***
“I still can’t believe you’re not Rose’s older sister...” Jack’s smile and flirting had made Jackie Tyler putty in his hands within five minutes of meeting her.
Mickey rolled his eyes.
“Are we going to dinner or are you two done making googly eyes at each other?” He asked, leaning against the door jam while Jackie preened under the attention.
“Oh, don’t be jealous, Mickey, I’ll have plenty of time to make ‘eyes’ at you later,” The Captain smiled and winked at him, grin broadening when the other man blushed.
“Well, we’re off then,” Jackie took Jack’s arm and let herself be escorted out. Jack kept the woman on his arm talking, nodding ever now and again as he listened to her chat about Howard and his habits. Mickey was already bored stiff but Jack seemed to actually be interested, keeping Rose’s mother going on about Howard, then Rose, and finally the Doctor. It wasn’t until Jackie was well into the subject of the Doctor that Mickey realized that getting more information from Jackie might have been the goal all along.
“I like him better, it may sound harsh, but he’s much more sociable then he was. Not as prickly and stand offish,” She was saying as they parked. Jackie had been leaning between the seats as she talked. “It’s weird though, changing your whole face like that.”
“Sometimes it’s easy to forget he’s an alien,” Jack agreed as he got out, holding the door for her. “He looks just like us, it’s strange how alike some races are. Some species look so human you’d think they are. Then again, with some aliens there’s no mistaking it...”
“Like living plastic,” Mickey muttered.
“Exactly!” The grin was back. “But really, no one can blame you for being a little startled.” He assured Jackie as she took his arm. “So, food, my treat. You coming Mickey?”
He looked around at Mickey who was hanging back.
“Thought you two might want be alone...” Mickey said, “the way you’re carrying on.”
“Nah,” Reaching back Jack pulled the darker man up beside him wrapping a friendly, almost too friendly, arm around Mickey’s waist. “Why have one when I can have you both?”
“You’re terrible you are,” Jackie laughed but she didn’t seem upset. “Do you flirt with everyone?”
“I think of it as hedging my bets.”
Jackie had suggested they go out and eat at a new place that had opened and Jack had agreed so Mickey felt obligated to go along and make sure Jack didn’t get himself into trouble.
Since he’d shown up at Mickey’s door a few weeks ago he’d managed to get himself a job at Clancy’s, the garage Mickey worked at, in the office. Jack could talk an angry customer down in less then ten minutes. His current record according to Steve was four minutes.
Mickey had been worried that the 51st century man would get his block knocked off the first week. He was a constant flirt and it had startled the guys at first but it wasn’t like Jack was going to force them into it and he was the first in the office to step out and lend a hand when they needed it. Harkness wasn’t too bad with cars actually, but he told Mickey privately that it was mostly because as a time agent it was never a good idea to be caught without a ride. Actually, Jack was becoming popular at work and reminded Mickey a little too much of another time traveler.
It wasn’t like he could blame his friends and co-workers for liking Jack. The ‘Captain’ was just hard to not like really, Jack knew just what to say at just when and was so good at everything that he could actually back most of his boasts. Still, it was like the universe wasn’t content with taking his girl and was now after his life too.
“It was a pleasure, as always,” Jack said as they dropped Jackie at her door after dinner, he leaned in and kissed her cheek, making her giggle.
“You flirt, you both come by Sunday for dinner, I’ll see you then,” Still smiling she unlocked her door and went inside.
“Watch it or she’ll take you up on all that flirting one day,” Mickey warned.
“I wouldn’t mind, of course it might make things awkward with Rose,” Jack said absently. “I don’t think Jackie’s serious though, she just likes flirting and she does seem to be getting along with Howard. Though honestly, I think Howard’s a little odd.”
“No arguments there,” Mickey agreed, letting Jack open the door with the spare key.
“But why the concern, Micks? Jealous?” Winking Jack pushed the door open and walked in.
“See, you’ll just flirt with anyone, you’re never serious,” Mickey said shaking his head and closing the door. Jack was leaning against the wall watching him lock up.
“Or, I’m always serious,” He grinned. “Your century is so...limiting.”
“Oh there we go, since you’re human you just insult the time we’re in. If you time travelers don’t like it here you should stop dropping in,” Mickey shoved past him.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it’s terrible, no more then the Doctor meant he hated humans. He wouldn’t have shown up to save the planet so often if he did, it’s just weird to think that the human race came from this. In my time gender just doesn’t matter, if I like someone I like them. Gender isn’t one of the considerations.”
“I know, anyone who talks to you gets that, it’s just whenever one of you blows through you always...” Mickey shook his head dropping his coat over a chair.
“Get all the girls and make you look bad?” Jack guessed as the other man scowled. “It’s just perspective, Mickey, if a hot alien babe ‘blew’ through and wanted you to go along with her you can’t tell me you wouldn’t consider it.”
“Maybe, but it’s different with me, I don’t have anyone here, Rose had her mother and...friends.”
“Yeah, she’s lucky like that. That’s why she’ll come back, she’s got something here. I’ve got nothing back home, that’s why it’s not even tempting to go back,” Slumping on the couch he suddenly smiled, banishing the serious look he’d been wearing. “But that’s the way it’s always been for me. Nothing serious.”
***
“Mrs. Brown’s car isn’t going to be done for another twenty minutes,” Mickey warned when Jack came towards the repair area with a clipboard. He was wearing the standard issue blue coveralls and still managed make the thing look like it was special order. “We’ve been swamped since Friday and Bobby called out.”
“Need a hand?” Jack asked, directing the question at the struggling Steve, Ron, and Mickey in general.
“’d be nice,” Ron agreed the redhead popped out from under a car briefly. “But Mrs. Brown makes Cindy and Doran nervous, you’ll probably be the only one to get her calmed down.”
“Right, that sounds vaguely worrisome, I’ll try to put her off and be back,” Jack turned, jotting something in his odd shorthand to the side of the clipboard. He’d told Mickey it was actually just writing but no one here knew the language and assumed he just couldn’t write to save his life.
“That man could talk his way out of hell,” Steve commented, shaking his head and going back to his work.
“Mrs. Brown, how nice to see you again...” Jack’s voice floated to them from near the office. Mickey rolled his eyes, reaching for something in his tools, stopping when he noticed the tools where rocking slightly. In fact, it felt like the ground was...
Someone screamed from the street and Mickey stepped through the open roll up door to look out, he felt Jack at his side a moment later. A large robotic cockroach creature was making its way down the street. It was as wide as the street and it opened its jaws to screech in short bursts interspaced with clicks.
“What...is that?” Mickey asked shakily.
“I’ve got some ideas, and I think I’m the only one understanding it.”
“It’s talking?”
“Thought so, yeah, it’s making demands. The usual, bring me your leader and/or riches type thing. We now own this world, so on and so forth...See this is the reason your prime minister shouldn’t have destroyed the Sycorax, they would have went back and warned that some powerful alien was protecting Earth to save face.”
“So what, this thing found out we were open?”
“More like it realized how much Earth would be on the open market and noticed that despite the destruction of a large ship you’re still kinda helpless,” Jack watched the thing a few more minutes. “Come on, looks like this one is up to us.”
“What?” But Jack was already moving back to the office. The frightened employees took his orders without a second thought, pulling cars in, rolling doors down, and securing the area, even though the bug was long gone. It had vanished from sight, literally just vanishing in a beam of blue, a few streets away.
“You’re probably right,” Fredrick Clancy was agreeing. “Better to keep everyone safe...” Jack waved him out of the office, where everything had been turned off and filed away, before locking up.
“Exactly, I’m sure the government will take care of...that and we’ll be back, probably by tomorrow,” Jack was saying, handing the keys over while Mickey ushered a shaking Mrs. Brown into a cab and sent her home.
“Tomorrow?” Mickey asked as he joined Jack and let himself be led away.
“I was going for a hopeful tone, I didn’t think telling him that this was one of the first legs of an invasion force would have done that.”
“Where are we going?”
“Our place, the roof, my ship has some stuff we’ll need.”
“You parked your space ship on the roof?”
“More like anchored, it’s floating above,” Jack said as they made their way up the steps. He flipped his wrist computer open when they reached the roof deactivating the outer camouflage. The time ship was a bulky ugly gray thing, shaped vaguely like a large cone on its side. It was roughly the size of the roof plus a bit and a set of stairs unfolded as Jack stepped up. “It’s not the TARDIS but it’s more then nothing.”
Walking up the steps after Jack, Mickey froze when a red light and an alarm went off.
“Sorry, one sec, the ship doesn’t know you...” Jack tapped a few keys on his wrist and the noises and lights stopped, a beam of light flicked on and moved from Mickey’s head to his feet. “There, it’ll recognize you from now on.”
“Alright,” Shaking his head to clear the slight buzz in it thanks to the beam of light he followed Harkness into the ship, the stairs retracted behind him and the hatch closed. They stopped at a door and Jack tapped something in the panel and the door slid open. The large room was lined with gadgets, drawers, and tools, a work bench was fit into the far wall. Jack stepped in with purpose pulling open a couple of drawers and pulling things out, he motioned Mickey towards the workbench and dropped them on it.
“What’s all this, then?” Mickey asked as he was handed a wrist computer that looked a lot like Jack’s.
“Stuff you’ll need, put that on so it can scan your DNA,” Jack said sorting through some things on the bench. Mickey shrugged and hesitantly put the band on his right wrist, opposite of his watch. The screen flipped up and some symbols that looked vaguely familiar flashed by. “What’s it doing?”
“Sorry, I forgot it’s set for modern English,” Turning Jack tapped something into his own unit, the screen on Mickey’s cleared and refocused, reforming into the words ‘loading user DNA signature, stand by.’
“So...what’s it doing?”
“Getting to know you, the wrist computer can interface with just about anything and it holds stores of information. It can be used by anyone but after it bonds to a DNA signature it will only respond for that person...”
“Please state name,” The wrist computer demanded.
“Mickey Smith,” He said after Jack gave him a ‘go ahead’ gesture.
“Voice imprint saved, thank you,” The mechanical, vaguely female, voice faded and the small screen began to rapidly process information.
“It also acts as a universal translator,” Jack continued, “you’ll actually hear the words because it’ll be translated inside your brain using a psychic circuit.”
“Like the TARDIS?”
“Only much more limited, if the translator doesn’t know it we have to give it a few hours to try and translate, the TARDIS does the same thing in about three seconds and can translate without having to be next to it. God I loved fiddling with that machine, she’s a real beauty and the Doctor let me have my way with her...within reason.”
“You need a moment?” Mickey asked, trying not to smile at the wistful look on the other man’s face.
“I might, everything we’ve got here looks like children toys in comparison,” Jack hefted a one of the large guns he’d pulled out. “It’s not a sonic screwdriver, but hey, maybe it’ll do.”
“So what are these aliens?” Mickey asked looking at the gun with more then a little apprehension.
“The Quisling, I think. It all fits but they shouldn’t be anywhere near Earth for another century or two,” While he talked Jack was tinkering with the large weapon in his hands. When he seemed satisfied he put it the side and began doing the same changes to another. “They’re huge ants by the way, with wings and stingers.”
“Figures, you never get cute fluffy easy to kill threatening aliens,” He looked around the room as his new gizmo flashed things across the screen.
“There are some aliens that are cute, fluffy and bent on universal domination,” Jack said deadpan. The thing with Harkness was that when you knew him, that is knew where and when he was from, it was hard to tell if he was joking or not.
“Are we just gonna go in, guns blazing?” The Englishman asked.
“Nah, that’d never work, this is probably just a scout ship, we need to discourage them and send them back to their proper place and time.” Here Jack motioned at the guns on the bench with what might have been a screwdriver if the end weren’t a bit blurry. “These are sonic blasters, they give the bugs the universe’s worst headache.”
“So...what’s the plan?” Mickey looked at the large gun he was handed, frowning.
“We sneak aboard their ship, see how they ended up here, cause some chaos, flood the hive ship with knock out gas, then haul them back to where they’re supposed to be.”
“Oh, sure, glad you stuck with something simple.”
“I didn’t want to over do it, like someone’s prime minister.”
“Hey, she wasn’t so bad before she shot down a ship of aliens.”
“Mass murder with a simple order makes her right up there in my voting choices,” Jack said sarcastically. Mickey looked away, examining the gun. It was still hard for him to see the destruction as mass murder, just a group of aliens being blown up like in the movies was easier, which made him feel a little less then human himself. The descendant of humanity who he was talking to however had been just as horrified as the Doctor, Jack looked grim at the mention of the lost aliens. “She should be put on trial for unnecessary use of violent armaments.”
“Think the Doctor got to her last time, maybe she’ll think twice next time,” Mickey offered as he was handed one of the larger guns.
“Let’s hope so, who knows what she’s up to now. I’d like to get the Quisling out of here with as few deaths on both sides as possible. The giant robot was for show, they’ll get nasty later. It’s not that they’re totally evil mind you, just a bit ruthless. Humans shouldn’t encounter them until they’re well into colonizing other worlds.”
“Right, so we put ‘em back where they’re supposed to be and that’s that...”
“Let’s hope so.”
From the weapons room they went to the control room, where Jack settled into the pilot’s chair, answering questions as he started bringing the ship around.
“Right so this, it’s your horizon, this is the cloak indicator, green means on, and right now I’m using the button controls though there’s a manual switch, that black toggle, that will switch to a steering control that looks kinda like a plane’s,” He stopped to bring them up farther in the atmosphere, half enjoying the way Mickey pressed in near his shoulder, even if it was just to see the controls.
“Some of what you said makes sense, the other half is rubbish,” His companion said after listening to Jack go on a few more minutes.
“Our frame of reference is different, the only reason I know so much about your century is because I was Time Agent, trust me I’m making perfect sense, you just don’t understand it.”
“Watch it, I’ll let you go talk to the ants yourself,” Mickey warned, watching sky pass at a dizzying speed. He could understand, sometimes, why Rose did what she did, seeing new places and different times. Some days he wished he’d taken the Doctor up on his offer to come along, at least then he would have still been with her. The Doctor summed him up pretty well in the end though, ‘Mickey the Idiot’ he just didn’t keep up the way Rose and Jack did.
“There they are,” Jack nodded at display screen that had lit up while Mickey was watching the Earth recede on another screen. Mickey turned in the tiny bolted in seat he’d perched in and watched the hornet nest like ship come into view. “Behind the moon, keeping off Earth’s sensors I bet.”
The former agent started punching buttons and steering them towards the ship.
“Getting a little close aren’t you?”
“Nah, their technology is centuries behind, they won’t even see us. Activate your wrist comm.” Jack turned on auto-controls to keep the ship hovering.
“Right, how? It closed up a few minutes ago,” The mechanic prodded at the bulky bracelet lightly, feeling for a button or switch.
“Outer edge, to the left, just run you thumb over it, it’ll scan you and open,” The screen popped up as Mickey followed instructions. “I’m setting an emergency transport beam up, just in case, if something happens and you need to use it, open the computer and say ‘initiate beam out’.”
“Got it,” Mickey said watching the screen as it downloaded new instructions from the shipboard computer.
“Ok, we’re going to do this as simple as possible, I’m beaming us into their version of a broom closet where I should be able to interface with a computer and find out what’s going on, you keep guard on the door, ready?”
“Yeah, bu...” The beam activated then, leaving Mickey blinking in a dimly lit room. When his eyes adjusted he could make out a small door to one side, the top of the door came to about his mid-chest and it was curved. The ceiling was just a hand reach up and he hoped Jack found what he needed because he didn’t fancy trying to run or fight in the cramped quarters.
“Looks like they got lost and went through some distortion,” Jack said softly as he tapped on his wrist and then the computer console he was kneeling beside. “That might be what brought them here.”
“Right, listen...” Mickey started looking over Jack’s head.
“So it shouldn’t be that hard to get them back in place, they should be light years away from here.”
“Jack, I think...”
“A little knock out gas and the tractor beam at max should...” He stopped when Mickey leveled the sonic blaster at a point just over where he was kneeling, slowly turning to find himself looking at an angry line of guard ants that were standing over rows of eggs.
“I think we’re in the wrong room,” Mickey continued, pressing the sonic gun’s trigger, just in time to send an ant screeching to the ground before it hit Jack. The residual sound sent the others scurrying to the sides.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Jack hit the button by the door and they both ducked out. “Ok, this is bad. They’re gonna think we’re from Earth, we need to start plan B now.”
“Plan B?”
Jack pulled him towards a console on a wall, prying the side up with the not-quite-screwdriver.
“Cover me.”
Mickey decided this was probably the moment he would have instituted the emergency beam out. Which was why he wasn’t Jack, Rose, or the Doctor, he was just Mickey Smith, mechanic and sometimes sidekick it seemed. The ants weren’t lacking some sort of communication because the hallways were filling quickly with scrabbling ants. They were being kept back by the sonic blasts but every time he turned to one side he was almost overrun from the other. He didn’t dare to look back at what Jack was doing.
“Intruders on deck eighteen, near nursery, all available guards to deck...” The oddly accented voice announced. Turning to fire another blast to his right he yelped when something sliced through his left sleeve. One of the guard ants was using his manables to try and take a chunk out of him. Mickey shoved hard sending the ant stumbling back and hissing curses at the human’s ancestors. A blast sent the left advance back a bit and the struggle had cost him valuable inches on the right.
“Jack!”
“Cover your ears!” Jack called back, finishing wiring his own sonic gun into the panel.
“What?!”
“Cover your ears! Now!” And then a loud screeching noise interrupted the broadcasts on the intercom. Mickey dropped his gun to belatedly plug his ears. The ants were getting the worst of it though, screeching and shaking their heads. The sound slowly stopped after several long bursts. When he looked around again, the ants were unconscious around him, and Jack was speaking to him, but no sound was coming out.
“Didn’t I say cover your ears?” Jack asked, shaking his head. “Bet you can’t hear a thing can you?”
“I can’t hear what you’re saying!” Mickey answered a little too loudly.
“Thought so, come on,” Tapping his wrist he initiated an emergency transport beam.
***
“So, next time, listen to me,” Jack was saying as he ran a blowing something next to Mickey’s ears, repairing the eardrum.
“Next time, let me in on the plan,” Mickey snapped back.
“I was making that one up as we went, just keep up,” Grinning he turned to get something else off a tray in the small Emergency Care Unit. “Hold still.” Without a second warning he sliced away the just above the jagged but thankfully shallow wound with what looked like a laser pointer.
“Careful with that.”
“Don’t worry, it’s set for cloth only,” Scanning the wound Jack touched a switch on the end of the table Mickey was sitting on. “Keep still.” The nanogens appeared quickly from the vents to swarm on the wound, it seemed to vanish even the blood was cleaned away.
“Right, at least this sidekick thing has a medical plan,” The other man flexed his arm experimentally. “So, that gas you beamed in, will that keep ‘em out?”
“Plus a brain shattering blast from a full volume sonic burst? They’ll be lucky if they wake up in a week. We’ll drop them off in another galaxy near their home planet.”
“We?”
“Yeah, I’ve already set the coordinates, we’ll be there in a few hours,” Jack stretched. “Come on, when are you ever going to get the chance to go to another galaxy, Mr. 21st century?”
“With you and the Doctor I think I got better odds then most,” The other man frowned standing.
“You have no sense of adventure.”
“You and Rose got double shares, will we get back in time for work?”
“It’s a time ship, we’ll get there four minutes after we left.”
“I’ve heard that one before.”
****
They were actually back five minutes after they left and Mickey had to reset his watch with the ‘proper’ time. Jack got them beers from the fridge and they settled on the couch to watch the news.
“The escaped parade float has been tracked back to...” Mickey tossed a throw pillow at the screen
“I don’t get how they can do it, the Doctor always says ‘Now they can’t deny it’ and the next night there’s a stupid explanation that makes no bloody sense.”
“Eh, in a few decades there’ll be no denying it, they’ll be here.”
“They could walk up and talk to us and the news’d claim it was kid in a mask,” Laying his head back the mechanic sighed.
“It gets better, Mick, c’mon, lets go do something.”
“Like what?”
“We got the day off, let’s see a movie, go to a museum, or just get drunk.”
“It’s two in the afternoon, even if it feels later.”
“That’s the time-lag, think of it as getting a jump on things.”
Despite himself Mickey smiled and was tempted by the idea, regardless of what he told Rose he wasn’t much more then a hanger on in his old group now.
“Yeah, ok.”