fic: All the Myths are True [PG] 8/? Torchwood/Abney Park crossover
Title: All the Myths are True
Author: A Lanart
Fandom: Abney Park/Torchwood
Pairing: None
Characters: Abney Park circa 06-08 - Robert, Kristina, Magdalene, Finn, Nathaniel, Jean-Paul, Daniel. Torchwood Team
Rating: PG
Warnings/Spoilers: crack!fic Mid S2 in the Torchwood scheme of things
Summary: Abney Park are a steampunk band with alter-egos as Airship Pirates. It just so happens that in this universe, all the myths are true; this is the story of one Captain Robert, his merry band and how they acquired the Airship Ophelia from a certain top-secret government agency, and then had to explain it decades later...
Disclaimer: None of this is mine except for the freaky plot bunny. I even nicked the title from Abney Park - it kind of seemed appropriate.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
*
Robert met Harkness’ challenging glare with one of his own. So the guy wanted him to talk did he? Then talk he most assuredly would, and open a few eyes on the Torchwood team in the process; he doubted the ever so charming Jack Harkness - or whatever his name was originally - had been completely honest with his team. Robert had not been completely open with the crew of the Ophelia either, but they knew the basics - they’d had to, travelling through time as they did in a supposedly impossible piece of technology. He took a deep breath and chanced a quick glance at the members of Torchwood on the other side of the table; most of them avoided his gaze. Harkness, as expected, still had the light of challenge in his eyes, his expression daring ‘do your worst, see if I care’ and Robert was tempted to take up the gauntlet just to see that expression change. Then his eyes touched on Jones - the man was worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth and when he met Robert’s eyes the plea in his own was obvious. Ianto Jones obviously knew more about Harkness than the others and didn’t want them to find out. Robert considered for a moment longer; he didn’t really have anything to gain beyond the personal satisfaction of thumbing his nose at ‘authority’ by saying more than he had to and the silent appeal of Jones had affected him more than he expected. He gave Jones a slight nod of acknowledgement and was rewarded with a startlingly genuine smile that lit the young man’s face.
Robert cleared his throat.
“Talk? You might regret that - just ask them,” he nodded in the direction of his crewmates and noticed that Kristina at least was trying to suppress a grin. “It’s difficult to know where to start so I guess going as close to the beginning as I can is a good place.” Robert paused again, and cast another glance around the table; this time he met with varying expressions of polite interest. “As Captain Harkness is no doubt aware, I was not born in this time - or this place for that matter - but I don’t think you really need to know all the details, just the relevant ones.” He nodded to himself, pleased with his decision; there would be more than enough detail there to keep Torchwood happy and yet hopefully not enough to put anyone at risk.
Robert slowly began to relate to them the story of a boy who had always felt misplaced in time, distressed with the instantaneousness of everyday life, the lack of care and pride people took in their work and their lives. He knew there was once more than that from the tales his maternal grandfather used to tell him. Grandfather was a wandering man whose anachronistic outlook on life was something of an embarrassment to his daughter but not so to his grandson. It was Robert’s grandfather who had given him his most treasured possession as a child; a real paper book, beautifully illustrated and bound, written by a man called Wells. The story was almost laughable when examined against the background of 51st century life but the words wove a rich tapestry of life in another time and place. It was after reading the book for the first time that Robert decided he wanted to visit the past himself. That desire influenced him in many ways but in the end it led him towards the Time Agency. He was always careful to do well enough at the Academy that he passed everything, but was careful not to do so well he drew attention. He was also extremely careful not to let anyone get wind of his private research.
The more time he spent at the academy, the more Robert realised that the Time Agency was rotting from within - the evidence was there for anyone with the eyes to see it even if it wasn’t immediately obvious. He began to plan how he could get out in one piece and get to where he wanted to be but his first goal was to become a full blown Agent with his own vortex manipulator. In the end Robert had decided the best place to hide was late 20th century Earth; he was likely to fit in better in that time and he also had contacts there that had nothing to do with the Agency. His mind made up, he only had to wait for the opportunity.
Robert paused in his narrative to find he had a captive audience. He took a sip of water - thoughtfully provided by Jones - and wondered what to tell them next.
“So you’ve been here since the 1990s?” Harkness asked. Robert was pleased that there appeared to only be interest in the man’s voice, and not hostility.
“Yes.”
“Yet you didn’t use your manipulator until a couple of years ago. Why did you do that?”
“The hiding or the using?” Robert asked. Harkness shrugged.
“Both.”
“Hiding it was the only way I could keep beneath the notice of the Agency. Luckily I had a contact who could provide me with the means to keep it hidden.” Robert watched Harkness tap a finger against his lips as he appeared to think about what Robert had said. There was silence around the rest of the table, as if no-one wanted to interrupt what was becoming an almost private conversation.
“Quantum shielding?” Harkness eventually enquired. Robert nodded.
“Exactly. Hir also managed to include a DNA lock and a perception filter.” There was a low whistle from Harkness.
“That’s some containment device,” he said. Robert grinned.
“We were very pleased with it.” Before he could continue he was interrupted by an almost breathless question from the cute Asian woman - Toshiko.
“I don’t suppose you’ve got it with you, have you?” Robert turned toward her, and smiled at the sight of her face alight with interest.
“I’m afraid it’s back in Seattle,” he answered. Her face fell and Robert felt like he’d just kicked a puppy.
“Tosh…” Whatever Harkness was going to say was cut off as she interrupted him.
“Quantum Shielding, Jack! I could… um sorry.” The last words she directed at Robert with a somewhat embarrassed smile on her face. He couldn’t help but smile back, her enthusiasm was infectious.
“Don’t worry, I know what technophiles are like,” Robert said gently. She flashed a quick grin at him before she turned her eyes back to the table, probably running calculations through her head if she was anything like the other techs he knew.
“So if you went to so much trouble hiding your wrist device, why did you start using it again? Where does the Ophelia fit into all this?” Robert grinned at Jack, whose posture now seemed to be more genuinely relaxed than it had done before.
“The simple answer is that I decided I could afford to live a little more dangerously. After seeing a London landmark almost destroyed by an alien craft it seemed that the rest of the universe was ready to come knocking on the door. I thought that in that climate the use of this,” Robert raised his arm, “would be more likely to go unnoticed as the world would be looking outward, not inward.”
“And the Ophelia?”
“That was the result of a long held fascination and a *lot* of research. I stumbled across references to the Ophelia at the academy when researching Victorian Torchwood and the development of science and science fiction. I dug deeper and discovered a surprising amount of information, but the jewel in the crown was finding parts of a journal kept by one of the Torchwood team at the time of the Ophelia’s disappearance.”
“A journal, you say?”
“Yeah. Kept by a guy called Peter Nichols; I only wish it had been complete and intact, it was real interesting reading.”
“I’m sure it was.” Robert would have missed the almost imperceptible flick of Harkness’ eyes toward Jones if he hadn’t been watching closely. They obviously knew something about either Nichols or the journal - possibly both - and he found himself hoping that he might be allowed to see it if they still had the book in their possession. But for that to happen he was going to have to give a little more first.
“I’d not touched all the information I’d brought with me to Earth about the Ophelia but that image of the space craft crashing stayed with me and I thought that maybe it was time to look into it a little more deeply. It also fit in with the direction the band was starting to take musically.”
“How does stealing an airship fit in with music?” Toshiko asked.
“You’ve not heard of steampunk, then?”
“Until today, no. It’s not exactly a mainstream genre over here,” she replied. There was a chuckle from further down the table on the crew’s side.
“We kind of figured that after we heard the drek the radio guy was playing,” Daniel said. Nathaniel nodded in agreement,
“Yeah, we should do something about that.” Robert could tell they were about to sail off in a completely inappropriate direction and reined them in the most effective fashion. By yelling at them.
“Guys!”
“Sorry,” Daniel mumbled, not sounding sorry in the slightest. Robert frowned at him before turning his attention back to Harkness.
“So that’s it. There wasn’t really any motivation behind stealing the Ophelia beyond seeing if we could. She wasn’t exactly being used and such a gorgeous machine as that wasn’t meant to be kept in the dark. We gave her back the light.”
“While that’s a commendable sentiment, it’s not really a good enough reason. What about the damage you could have caused to the timelines?” Robert wasn’t completely sure but he thought Harkness was beginning to warm to them a bit; his expression was certainly less hostile.
“We’ve been pretty careful to avoid that, which I think you’ll find out if you check. You’ll also find there’s little mention of the Ophelia in anything that could be classed as a reliable resource,” Robert said. It was something he’d kept an eye on in an effort not to leave too many clues for those who had the wherewithal to look.
“I can confirm that,” Jones replied and Robert flashed a grateful smile in his direction. He *liked* Ianto Jones and the way he subtly steered his way through those around him.
“So if I didn’t confiscate the Ophelia, what would your plans be?” Harkness asked.
“Get her airworthy enough to withstand the jump backwards to somewhen a bit less conspicuous, fix her up properly and then go home. You wouldn’t see Ophelia in this century again unless you wanted to.”
“You’d carry on being Airship Pirates?”
“If we could.” Robert was sure that the ‘if we were allowed to’ was loud and clear despite not being articulated.
“How long will it take you to get her airworthy?”
“Couple of days. Less with help.”
“And what would you do in the meantime?”
“Go talk to that guy on the radio, promote the band, and make it look as if this was all planned. Goodness knows, the playlist could do with a kick.”
“Free concert on the Plass?” Jones’ tone of voice was far too innocent - Robert was convinced there was something devious going on behind that bland expression; he just wasn’t quite sure what.
“Plass?” Robert asked. A couple of button presses of a handheld computer later and aerial footage of the city was being displayed on the large screen in the room. The image zoomed in to focus on an open expanse with what looked like an extension of the column in the main room of the base pointing toward the sky.
“The Plass. Up there,” Jones said, pointing to the roof.
“You know I kind of like the idea,” Robert said. A free concert, even if it was just a few songs, with the Ophelia in the sky as a backdrop would be very effective publicity and would distract people from wondering about the ship.
“So do I,” Harkness agreed with a smile, which Robert found more than a little surprising. Jones was obviously a sneaky bastard and knew how to get what he wanted - which for some reason in this case appeared to be their continuing existence - without actually asking for it. “Ianto, find out what they need to fix the Ophelia and get that underway. Tosh, get onto the radio station and tell them they have an exclusive. Gwen, Owen - you’re with Ianto. And as for you…” Harkness grinned at the rest of the crew of the Ophelia, “I’m going to steal your Captain for about 10 minutes.” He rose from his chair and jerked his head to indicate Robert should follow him. Robert did, but not without some trepidation, though judging from the discussion behind him everything in that department seemed to be well in hand. He wondered if he was going to discover the real reason behind why Jack Harkness was going to allow him to live with both his memory unwiped and the Ophelia in his possession.
*
Author: A Lanart
Fandom: Abney Park/Torchwood
Pairing: None
Characters: Abney Park circa 06-08 - Robert, Kristina, Magdalene, Finn, Nathaniel, Jean-Paul, Daniel. Torchwood Team
Rating: PG
Warnings/Spoilers: crack!fic Mid S2 in the Torchwood scheme of things
Summary: Abney Park are a steampunk band with alter-egos as Airship Pirates. It just so happens that in this universe, all the myths are true; this is the story of one Captain Robert, his merry band and how they acquired the Airship Ophelia from a certain top-secret government agency, and then had to explain it decades later...
Disclaimer: None of this is mine except for the freaky plot bunny. I even nicked the title from Abney Park - it kind of seemed appropriate.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
*
Robert met Harkness’ challenging glare with one of his own. So the guy wanted him to talk did he? Then talk he most assuredly would, and open a few eyes on the Torchwood team in the process; he doubted the ever so charming Jack Harkness - or whatever his name was originally - had been completely honest with his team. Robert had not been completely open with the crew of the Ophelia either, but they knew the basics - they’d had to, travelling through time as they did in a supposedly impossible piece of technology. He took a deep breath and chanced a quick glance at the members of Torchwood on the other side of the table; most of them avoided his gaze. Harkness, as expected, still had the light of challenge in his eyes, his expression daring ‘do your worst, see if I care’ and Robert was tempted to take up the gauntlet just to see that expression change. Then his eyes touched on Jones - the man was worrying at his bottom lip with his teeth and when he met Robert’s eyes the plea in his own was obvious. Ianto Jones obviously knew more about Harkness than the others and didn’t want them to find out. Robert considered for a moment longer; he didn’t really have anything to gain beyond the personal satisfaction of thumbing his nose at ‘authority’ by saying more than he had to and the silent appeal of Jones had affected him more than he expected. He gave Jones a slight nod of acknowledgement and was rewarded with a startlingly genuine smile that lit the young man’s face.
Robert cleared his throat.
“Talk? You might regret that - just ask them,” he nodded in the direction of his crewmates and noticed that Kristina at least was trying to suppress a grin. “It’s difficult to know where to start so I guess going as close to the beginning as I can is a good place.” Robert paused again, and cast another glance around the table; this time he met with varying expressions of polite interest. “As Captain Harkness is no doubt aware, I was not born in this time - or this place for that matter - but I don’t think you really need to know all the details, just the relevant ones.” He nodded to himself, pleased with his decision; there would be more than enough detail there to keep Torchwood happy and yet hopefully not enough to put anyone at risk.
Robert slowly began to relate to them the story of a boy who had always felt misplaced in time, distressed with the instantaneousness of everyday life, the lack of care and pride people took in their work and their lives. He knew there was once more than that from the tales his maternal grandfather used to tell him. Grandfather was a wandering man whose anachronistic outlook on life was something of an embarrassment to his daughter but not so to his grandson. It was Robert’s grandfather who had given him his most treasured possession as a child; a real paper book, beautifully illustrated and bound, written by a man called Wells. The story was almost laughable when examined against the background of 51st century life but the words wove a rich tapestry of life in another time and place. It was after reading the book for the first time that Robert decided he wanted to visit the past himself. That desire influenced him in many ways but in the end it led him towards the Time Agency. He was always careful to do well enough at the Academy that he passed everything, but was careful not to do so well he drew attention. He was also extremely careful not to let anyone get wind of his private research.
The more time he spent at the academy, the more Robert realised that the Time Agency was rotting from within - the evidence was there for anyone with the eyes to see it even if it wasn’t immediately obvious. He began to plan how he could get out in one piece and get to where he wanted to be but his first goal was to become a full blown Agent with his own vortex manipulator. In the end Robert had decided the best place to hide was late 20th century Earth; he was likely to fit in better in that time and he also had contacts there that had nothing to do with the Agency. His mind made up, he only had to wait for the opportunity.
Robert paused in his narrative to find he had a captive audience. He took a sip of water - thoughtfully provided by Jones - and wondered what to tell them next.
“So you’ve been here since the 1990s?” Harkness asked. Robert was pleased that there appeared to only be interest in the man’s voice, and not hostility.
“Yes.”
“Yet you didn’t use your manipulator until a couple of years ago. Why did you do that?”
“The hiding or the using?” Robert asked. Harkness shrugged.
“Both.”
“Hiding it was the only way I could keep beneath the notice of the Agency. Luckily I had a contact who could provide me with the means to keep it hidden.” Robert watched Harkness tap a finger against his lips as he appeared to think about what Robert had said. There was silence around the rest of the table, as if no-one wanted to interrupt what was becoming an almost private conversation.
“Quantum shielding?” Harkness eventually enquired. Robert nodded.
“Exactly. Hir also managed to include a DNA lock and a perception filter.” There was a low whistle from Harkness.
“That’s some containment device,” he said. Robert grinned.
“We were very pleased with it.” Before he could continue he was interrupted by an almost breathless question from the cute Asian woman - Toshiko.
“I don’t suppose you’ve got it with you, have you?” Robert turned toward her, and smiled at the sight of her face alight with interest.
“I’m afraid it’s back in Seattle,” he answered. Her face fell and Robert felt like he’d just kicked a puppy.
“Tosh…” Whatever Harkness was going to say was cut off as she interrupted him.
“Quantum Shielding, Jack! I could… um sorry.” The last words she directed at Robert with a somewhat embarrassed smile on her face. He couldn’t help but smile back, her enthusiasm was infectious.
“Don’t worry, I know what technophiles are like,” Robert said gently. She flashed a quick grin at him before she turned her eyes back to the table, probably running calculations through her head if she was anything like the other techs he knew.
“So if you went to so much trouble hiding your wrist device, why did you start using it again? Where does the Ophelia fit into all this?” Robert grinned at Jack, whose posture now seemed to be more genuinely relaxed than it had done before.
“The simple answer is that I decided I could afford to live a little more dangerously. After seeing a London landmark almost destroyed by an alien craft it seemed that the rest of the universe was ready to come knocking on the door. I thought that in that climate the use of this,” Robert raised his arm, “would be more likely to go unnoticed as the world would be looking outward, not inward.”
“And the Ophelia?”
“That was the result of a long held fascination and a *lot* of research. I stumbled across references to the Ophelia at the academy when researching Victorian Torchwood and the development of science and science fiction. I dug deeper and discovered a surprising amount of information, but the jewel in the crown was finding parts of a journal kept by one of the Torchwood team at the time of the Ophelia’s disappearance.”
“A journal, you say?”
“Yeah. Kept by a guy called Peter Nichols; I only wish it had been complete and intact, it was real interesting reading.”
“I’m sure it was.” Robert would have missed the almost imperceptible flick of Harkness’ eyes toward Jones if he hadn’t been watching closely. They obviously knew something about either Nichols or the journal - possibly both - and he found himself hoping that he might be allowed to see it if they still had the book in their possession. But for that to happen he was going to have to give a little more first.
“I’d not touched all the information I’d brought with me to Earth about the Ophelia but that image of the space craft crashing stayed with me and I thought that maybe it was time to look into it a little more deeply. It also fit in with the direction the band was starting to take musically.”
“How does stealing an airship fit in with music?” Toshiko asked.
“You’ve not heard of steampunk, then?”
“Until today, no. It’s not exactly a mainstream genre over here,” she replied. There was a chuckle from further down the table on the crew’s side.
“We kind of figured that after we heard the drek the radio guy was playing,” Daniel said. Nathaniel nodded in agreement,
“Yeah, we should do something about that.” Robert could tell they were about to sail off in a completely inappropriate direction and reined them in the most effective fashion. By yelling at them.
“Guys!”
“Sorry,” Daniel mumbled, not sounding sorry in the slightest. Robert frowned at him before turning his attention back to Harkness.
“So that’s it. There wasn’t really any motivation behind stealing the Ophelia beyond seeing if we could. She wasn’t exactly being used and such a gorgeous machine as that wasn’t meant to be kept in the dark. We gave her back the light.”
“While that’s a commendable sentiment, it’s not really a good enough reason. What about the damage you could have caused to the timelines?” Robert wasn’t completely sure but he thought Harkness was beginning to warm to them a bit; his expression was certainly less hostile.
“We’ve been pretty careful to avoid that, which I think you’ll find out if you check. You’ll also find there’s little mention of the Ophelia in anything that could be classed as a reliable resource,” Robert said. It was something he’d kept an eye on in an effort not to leave too many clues for those who had the wherewithal to look.
“I can confirm that,” Jones replied and Robert flashed a grateful smile in his direction. He *liked* Ianto Jones and the way he subtly steered his way through those around him.
“So if I didn’t confiscate the Ophelia, what would your plans be?” Harkness asked.
“Get her airworthy enough to withstand the jump backwards to somewhen a bit less conspicuous, fix her up properly and then go home. You wouldn’t see Ophelia in this century again unless you wanted to.”
“You’d carry on being Airship Pirates?”
“If we could.” Robert was sure that the ‘if we were allowed to’ was loud and clear despite not being articulated.
“How long will it take you to get her airworthy?”
“Couple of days. Less with help.”
“And what would you do in the meantime?”
“Go talk to that guy on the radio, promote the band, and make it look as if this was all planned. Goodness knows, the playlist could do with a kick.”
“Free concert on the Plass?” Jones’ tone of voice was far too innocent - Robert was convinced there was something devious going on behind that bland expression; he just wasn’t quite sure what.
“Plass?” Robert asked. A couple of button presses of a handheld computer later and aerial footage of the city was being displayed on the large screen in the room. The image zoomed in to focus on an open expanse with what looked like an extension of the column in the main room of the base pointing toward the sky.
“The Plass. Up there,” Jones said, pointing to the roof.
“You know I kind of like the idea,” Robert said. A free concert, even if it was just a few songs, with the Ophelia in the sky as a backdrop would be very effective publicity and would distract people from wondering about the ship.
“So do I,” Harkness agreed with a smile, which Robert found more than a little surprising. Jones was obviously a sneaky bastard and knew how to get what he wanted - which for some reason in this case appeared to be their continuing existence - without actually asking for it. “Ianto, find out what they need to fix the Ophelia and get that underway. Tosh, get onto the radio station and tell them they have an exclusive. Gwen, Owen - you’re with Ianto. And as for you…” Harkness grinned at the rest of the crew of the Ophelia, “I’m going to steal your Captain for about 10 minutes.” He rose from his chair and jerked his head to indicate Robert should follow him. Robert did, but not without some trepidation, though judging from the discussion behind him everything in that department seemed to be well in hand. He wondered if he was going to discover the real reason behind why Jack Harkness was going to allow him to live with both his memory unwiped and the Ophelia in his possession.
*