Fic - Tylwyth Teg Chapters 3+4
Title: Tylwyth Teg Chapters 3+4
Author: szm
Rating: G
Spoilers: Cyberwoman, Small Worlds, Series One generally.
Betaed by gothmafia
Chapter Three Summary: Jack on the Tardis
Jack was ready to go early that morning. Martha managed to convince him that no one would be pleased about him knocking on the door at 5am and that hanging around outside Ianto’s window would, at best, get him arrested.
Jack spent the next four hours pacing round the TARDIS in a dark cloud, while Martha made herself busy elsewhere.
Just before 9am the Doctor called out, “Right, let go then shall we?” Jack had never got across the TARDIS faster.
As Martha followed him at a slightly saner pace, she asked the Doctor if he’d managed to fix the TARDIS.
“Yes, of course. Well… mostly.” He sniffed and turned his head as he said it, so the word ‘mostly’ was nearly lost into the fabric of his shoulder. “All but the translation circuit anyway. Let’s get going eh?” He held the main door open allowing Jack and then Martha to squeeze past.
Martha smirked , “So we’re going to be listening to people babble in welsh all day then?”
“Nothing wrong with welsh,” he replied as they followed the rapidly shrinking figure of Jack down the hill. “Lovely language.”
***
A little less than 20 minutes later, the Doctor was knocking on the door of one Olwyn Jones. The door opened the tiniest fraction to reveal the eye and a small part of Mrs Jones’ face.
“Hullo,” said the Doctor brightly.
It was quite amazing how much suspicion such a small amount of face could portray. “Are you from the school?” she asked.
“That’ll do,” said the Doctor pulling the psychic paper out of his pocket and showing it to Olwyn. “Can we come in?”
The eye regarded them for a few moments then the door slowly pulled back, the Doctor pushed past as soon as there was enough room, followed by Martha and Jack. Olwyn took the psychic paper off the Doctor and subjected it to a thorough stare.
“Doctor who?” she asked handing it back.
“Just the Doctor,” he replied, looking round the room. “These are my colleagues, Martha Jones and …”
“James Harper,” interrupted Jack, holding out his hand and treating Olwyn to a 1000 kilowatt smile.
“I thought your name was Jack?” she said looking unimpressed. She ignored Jack’s hand.
“Nickname ma’am,” replied Jack, holding his smile and lowering his hand. Olwyn turned back to the Doctor.
“So what’s this about?” she asked. “Has he been fighting, or did he sneak out of school again?”
“Fighting?” said Jack, surprised. Ianto had a temper, had even punched Jack once, but that had been under extreme circumstances. Normally Ianto tried pretty hard not to show any emotion.
Olwyn’s eyes narrowed, “What school does Ianto go to?” she asked suddenly much sharper than before. The Doctor glanced at the psychic paper but it had already cleared. “You’re not from the school,” she stated. “Are you from Torchwood?”
“Torchwood?” asked the Doctor.
Normally Jack relished anything that could surprise the Doctor, but this just made him feel faintly sick. He could practically hear the cogs in Martha’s head turn as she tried to keep up. He didn’t think she’d manage it; Jack himself was getting more lost by second.
“Who are you?” asked Olwyn quietly, but with a voice like steel.
“Something’s after your grandson, something old and half in shadow. We can help.” The Doctor wore an earnest expression. Jack didn’t expect Olwyn to buy it but her own expression softened, just for a second. The Doctor pressed on this advantage, saying something else in welsh that Jack couldn’t follow. He picked out the words ‘tylwyth teg’ and remembered a conversation with Ianto after Estelle and Jasmine; it was welsh for ‘fairies’.
Olwyn looked shocked, “Why? Why would you help?” she asked.
“Because a very good friend sent me here so I could,” replied the Doctor.
“He’s only a baby,” whispered Olwyn, looking fragile and old for first time. She snapped out of it and the steel was back. “If he’s not at school he’ll be on the hills, somewhere he can see the sea.”
“Jack…” started the Doctor. But Jack was already gone out the front door, back towards the TARDIS.
***
“Your friend won’t find him,” Olwyn stated hollowly. “He knows those hills better than anyone, it’s uncanny.”
Martha gave the Doctor a look.
“Oh, I wouldn’t count Jack out yet. He can be very determined you know.” He wandered off to look at something on the mantelpiece, and Martha rolled her eyes.
“Shall I make us a coffee?” she asked.
Olwyn shook her head. “Coffee is an awful drink, won’t have it in the house, there’s some tea in the caddy.”
“Excellent!” said the Doctor suddenly. “I’m going to the school, just in case he *is* there. You have a nice cup of tea and tell Martha all about Torchwood and everything.” He headed off to the front door purposefully, then hesitated with his hand on the handle and turned back to Olwyn.
As he opened his mouth to speak, Olwyn said tiredly “Knelston Primary School, end of the road, take a left, then a right, big sign outside, can’t miss it.”
Chapter Four Summary: Jack and Ianto sitting in a tree...
Jack was not lost.
He was certain he could find the TARDIS. The sea was off in *that* direction, and town was off in *that* one. Beyond that, however, he had no clue.
He definitely didn’t have any idea were Ianto was.
He’d been out looking for hours; it was nearly noon. He stopped and leant against a tree. When had his life become this endless fumble? Trying to do the right thing without any idea of how, or even if his ‘right thing’ was the best ‘right thing’.
A voice from high up in the tree called down to him, “I like your coat.”
Jack recognised the voice instantly. “Ianto!” he called back. “I’ve been looking for you!”
“I saw you. You’re not very good at finding people are you?”
Jack looked up into the tree, Ianto was high up but close to the trunk. It was hard to make him out even from directly underneath, it would be impossible from any further away.
“Are you going to come down?” asked Jack with a grin. “I feel silly talking to a tree.”
“I think your going to feel silly then.” There was clear distrust in Ianto’s voice. But he needn’t have announced himself at all. Jack would’ve probably walked straight on by. Slightly hearted by this, Jack decided to be reckless.
“O.k. then, I’m coming up.”
He grinned.
Jack climbed into the tree. However, it was one thing for an eight year old boy to do, quite another for a fully grown man in an RAF great coat. On his second attempt Jack left the coat on the ground beneath the tree. On his third attempt Jack managed to pull himself far enough up that he could see Ianto’s face, and wedged himself uncomfortably between two branches. Ianto was laughing quietly at him. A small, petty part of Jack hoped Ianto would fall out of the tree.
“Who are you?” asked Ianto.
“Would you believe I’m from the school?” asked Jack in return. He tried to smile warmly but a small, needle-like twig was jabbing him in the back.
Ianto shook his head, and tilted it to one side, as if he was listening for something. “My friends say I shouldn’t trust you.” Ianto started, no accusation in his voice, just repeating an interesting thing he heard.
Jack suddenly felt cold, in a way that had nothing to do with his lack of coat. “Do you believe them?”
Ianto shrugged. “They don’t always tell the truth.” He tilted his head again, this time Jack thought he could hear faint voices on the wind. “They say you’re with the Torchwood lady. I didn’t like her.” Faint disapproval in his tone.
“I’m with the Doctor,” said Jack. The wind picked up slightly rocking, the tree. Ianto didn’t seem bothered in the slightest but Jack suddenly felt very vulnerable, maybe climbing into the tree hadn’t been the best idea ever.
“He was cool!” said Ianto eyes bright; Jack had to smile at the eight year olds enthusiasm. The distrust faded slightly, obviously the Doctor had made an impression.
However his ‘friends’ didn’t seem to like it, the tree shook and Jack had to cling on. Ianto didn’t seem to be touched.
“Tell me about the Torchwood lady,” asked Jack, deciding that the Doctor was a dangerous subject while he was 8ft up a tree.
“She wanted to know about them,” he said waving his hand at the air. “She smiled too much.” He frowned as if this were a bad thing.
“Was her name Yvonne?” asked Jack softly. Ianto nodded. “Was she interested in you, too?” Jack recalled a memo that passed across his desk, back before he had Ianto to sort, and file, and summarise. Something about a testing programme in schools across Britain, too find ‘potentional Torchwood recruits’. That had been headed by a young Yvonne Hartman, had that been the late 80’s? Jack for once wished he’d paid more attention to his paperwork. Jack knew Ianto was clever, clever enough to hide a cyberman; Yvonne would want to use that.
Ianto looked confused and shook his head. “I’m not very interesting,” he replied.
***
(A few hours earlier)
Olwyn sipped her tea and tried not to wince. The girl was nice enough but clearly shouldn’t be allowed near a teapot. She listened as Martha made soothing noises and told her how wonderful the doctor was. Olwyn didn’t believe in heroes, not really, not anymore, but there was something about that Doctor person. God knew she didn’t know how to help Ianto on her own.
Martha asked her about Torchwood, carefully avoiding the ‘other’ thing interested in Ianto. Too wrapped up in facts, this one. But to be honest Olwyn didn’t know what she would have been able to say about them anyway.
So she told her about Yvonne Hartman, about her hungry expression as she looked at Ianto, and her bright smile that didn’t soften her face at all.
A year ago there’d been a series of tests at school. Ianto hadn’t been expected to do very well. It was just after his father had… left. He was angry, and fighting. But even before that, Ianto had never been much good at school. Never interested, always staring out of windows and drawing, instead of concentrating on his work. It was frustrating for Olwyn, who had known ever since she held him as a tiny baby that her grandson was *special*.
But the tests *proved* it. Ianto scored highly, very highly. Olwyn had been called into school for a meeting with the head and Ms Hartman, and the headmaster had being wearing an echo of the hungry expression on Yvonne Hartman’s face.
Olwyn was a strong woman, she could protect him from grasping people, teach him how to deal with that, how to use their flaws to protect himself. But he started to spend less time in school, more time on the hills, on the beach. And something else found him. Something Olwyn couldn’t protect him against.
Author: szm
Rating: G
Spoilers: Cyberwoman, Small Worlds, Series One generally.
Betaed by gothmafia
Chapter Three Summary: Jack on the Tardis
Jack was ready to go early that morning. Martha managed to convince him that no one would be pleased about him knocking on the door at 5am and that hanging around outside Ianto’s window would, at best, get him arrested.
Jack spent the next four hours pacing round the TARDIS in a dark cloud, while Martha made herself busy elsewhere.
Just before 9am the Doctor called out, “Right, let go then shall we?” Jack had never got across the TARDIS faster.
As Martha followed him at a slightly saner pace, she asked the Doctor if he’d managed to fix the TARDIS.
“Yes, of course. Well… mostly.” He sniffed and turned his head as he said it, so the word ‘mostly’ was nearly lost into the fabric of his shoulder. “All but the translation circuit anyway. Let’s get going eh?” He held the main door open allowing Jack and then Martha to squeeze past.
Martha smirked , “So we’re going to be listening to people babble in welsh all day then?”
“Nothing wrong with welsh,” he replied as they followed the rapidly shrinking figure of Jack down the hill. “Lovely language.”
***
A little less than 20 minutes later, the Doctor was knocking on the door of one Olwyn Jones. The door opened the tiniest fraction to reveal the eye and a small part of Mrs Jones’ face.
“Hullo,” said the Doctor brightly.
It was quite amazing how much suspicion such a small amount of face could portray. “Are you from the school?” she asked.
“That’ll do,” said the Doctor pulling the psychic paper out of his pocket and showing it to Olwyn. “Can we come in?”
The eye regarded them for a few moments then the door slowly pulled back, the Doctor pushed past as soon as there was enough room, followed by Martha and Jack. Olwyn took the psychic paper off the Doctor and subjected it to a thorough stare.
“Doctor who?” she asked handing it back.
“Just the Doctor,” he replied, looking round the room. “These are my colleagues, Martha Jones and …”
“James Harper,” interrupted Jack, holding out his hand and treating Olwyn to a 1000 kilowatt smile.
“I thought your name was Jack?” she said looking unimpressed. She ignored Jack’s hand.
“Nickname ma’am,” replied Jack, holding his smile and lowering his hand. Olwyn turned back to the Doctor.
“So what’s this about?” she asked. “Has he been fighting, or did he sneak out of school again?”
“Fighting?” said Jack, surprised. Ianto had a temper, had even punched Jack once, but that had been under extreme circumstances. Normally Ianto tried pretty hard not to show any emotion.
Olwyn’s eyes narrowed, “What school does Ianto go to?” she asked suddenly much sharper than before. The Doctor glanced at the psychic paper but it had already cleared. “You’re not from the school,” she stated. “Are you from Torchwood?”
“Torchwood?” asked the Doctor.
Normally Jack relished anything that could surprise the Doctor, but this just made him feel faintly sick. He could practically hear the cogs in Martha’s head turn as she tried to keep up. He didn’t think she’d manage it; Jack himself was getting more lost by second.
“Who are you?” asked Olwyn quietly, but with a voice like steel.
“Something’s after your grandson, something old and half in shadow. We can help.” The Doctor wore an earnest expression. Jack didn’t expect Olwyn to buy it but her own expression softened, just for a second. The Doctor pressed on this advantage, saying something else in welsh that Jack couldn’t follow. He picked out the words ‘tylwyth teg’ and remembered a conversation with Ianto after Estelle and Jasmine; it was welsh for ‘fairies’.
Olwyn looked shocked, “Why? Why would you help?” she asked.
“Because a very good friend sent me here so I could,” replied the Doctor.
“He’s only a baby,” whispered Olwyn, looking fragile and old for first time. She snapped out of it and the steel was back. “If he’s not at school he’ll be on the hills, somewhere he can see the sea.”
“Jack…” started the Doctor. But Jack was already gone out the front door, back towards the TARDIS.
***
“Your friend won’t find him,” Olwyn stated hollowly. “He knows those hills better than anyone, it’s uncanny.”
Martha gave the Doctor a look.
“Oh, I wouldn’t count Jack out yet. He can be very determined you know.” He wandered off to look at something on the mantelpiece, and Martha rolled her eyes.
“Shall I make us a coffee?” she asked.
Olwyn shook her head. “Coffee is an awful drink, won’t have it in the house, there’s some tea in the caddy.”
“Excellent!” said the Doctor suddenly. “I’m going to the school, just in case he *is* there. You have a nice cup of tea and tell Martha all about Torchwood and everything.” He headed off to the front door purposefully, then hesitated with his hand on the handle and turned back to Olwyn.
As he opened his mouth to speak, Olwyn said tiredly “Knelston Primary School, end of the road, take a left, then a right, big sign outside, can’t miss it.”
Chapter Four Summary: Jack and Ianto sitting in a tree...
Jack was not lost.
He was certain he could find the TARDIS. The sea was off in *that* direction, and town was off in *that* one. Beyond that, however, he had no clue.
He definitely didn’t have any idea were Ianto was.
He’d been out looking for hours; it was nearly noon. He stopped and leant against a tree. When had his life become this endless fumble? Trying to do the right thing without any idea of how, or even if his ‘right thing’ was the best ‘right thing’.
A voice from high up in the tree called down to him, “I like your coat.”
Jack recognised the voice instantly. “Ianto!” he called back. “I’ve been looking for you!”
“I saw you. You’re not very good at finding people are you?”
Jack looked up into the tree, Ianto was high up but close to the trunk. It was hard to make him out even from directly underneath, it would be impossible from any further away.
“Are you going to come down?” asked Jack with a grin. “I feel silly talking to a tree.”
“I think your going to feel silly then.” There was clear distrust in Ianto’s voice. But he needn’t have announced himself at all. Jack would’ve probably walked straight on by. Slightly hearted by this, Jack decided to be reckless.
“O.k. then, I’m coming up.”
He grinned.
Jack climbed into the tree. However, it was one thing for an eight year old boy to do, quite another for a fully grown man in an RAF great coat. On his second attempt Jack left the coat on the ground beneath the tree. On his third attempt Jack managed to pull himself far enough up that he could see Ianto’s face, and wedged himself uncomfortably between two branches. Ianto was laughing quietly at him. A small, petty part of Jack hoped Ianto would fall out of the tree.
“Who are you?” asked Ianto.
“Would you believe I’m from the school?” asked Jack in return. He tried to smile warmly but a small, needle-like twig was jabbing him in the back.
Ianto shook his head, and tilted it to one side, as if he was listening for something. “My friends say I shouldn’t trust you.” Ianto started, no accusation in his voice, just repeating an interesting thing he heard.
Jack suddenly felt cold, in a way that had nothing to do with his lack of coat. “Do you believe them?”
Ianto shrugged. “They don’t always tell the truth.” He tilted his head again, this time Jack thought he could hear faint voices on the wind. “They say you’re with the Torchwood lady. I didn’t like her.” Faint disapproval in his tone.
“I’m with the Doctor,” said Jack. The wind picked up slightly rocking, the tree. Ianto didn’t seem bothered in the slightest but Jack suddenly felt very vulnerable, maybe climbing into the tree hadn’t been the best idea ever.
“He was cool!” said Ianto eyes bright; Jack had to smile at the eight year olds enthusiasm. The distrust faded slightly, obviously the Doctor had made an impression.
However his ‘friends’ didn’t seem to like it, the tree shook and Jack had to cling on. Ianto didn’t seem to be touched.
“Tell me about the Torchwood lady,” asked Jack, deciding that the Doctor was a dangerous subject while he was 8ft up a tree.
“She wanted to know about them,” he said waving his hand at the air. “She smiled too much.” He frowned as if this were a bad thing.
“Was her name Yvonne?” asked Jack softly. Ianto nodded. “Was she interested in you, too?” Jack recalled a memo that passed across his desk, back before he had Ianto to sort, and file, and summarise. Something about a testing programme in schools across Britain, too find ‘potentional Torchwood recruits’. That had been headed by a young Yvonne Hartman, had that been the late 80’s? Jack for once wished he’d paid more attention to his paperwork. Jack knew Ianto was clever, clever enough to hide a cyberman; Yvonne would want to use that.
Ianto looked confused and shook his head. “I’m not very interesting,” he replied.
***
(A few hours earlier)
Olwyn sipped her tea and tried not to wince. The girl was nice enough but clearly shouldn’t be allowed near a teapot. She listened as Martha made soothing noises and told her how wonderful the doctor was. Olwyn didn’t believe in heroes, not really, not anymore, but there was something about that Doctor person. God knew she didn’t know how to help Ianto on her own.
Martha asked her about Torchwood, carefully avoiding the ‘other’ thing interested in Ianto. Too wrapped up in facts, this one. But to be honest Olwyn didn’t know what she would have been able to say about them anyway.
So she told her about Yvonne Hartman, about her hungry expression as she looked at Ianto, and her bright smile that didn’t soften her face at all.
A year ago there’d been a series of tests at school. Ianto hadn’t been expected to do very well. It was just after his father had… left. He was angry, and fighting. But even before that, Ianto had never been much good at school. Never interested, always staring out of windows and drawing, instead of concentrating on his work. It was frustrating for Olwyn, who had known ever since she held him as a tiny baby that her grandson was *special*.
But the tests *proved* it. Ianto scored highly, very highly. Olwyn had been called into school for a meeting with the head and Ms Hartman, and the headmaster had being wearing an echo of the hungry expression on Yvonne Hartman’s face.
Olwyn was a strong woman, she could protect him from grasping people, teach him how to deal with that, how to use their flaws to protect himself. But he started to spend less time in school, more time on the hills, on the beach. And something else found him. Something Olwyn couldn’t protect him against.